Slanted and Enchanted
by R3-1 M4y3r
Summary: She wasn't proud of the situation she had put herself and her daughter in. And Happy's sudden interest in her and her situation wasn't helping. He just wouldn't leave her alone and she wasn't sure if she wanted him to. Happy/OC
1. Are you going to hit me with the bat?

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons Of Anarchy, FX and Kurt Sutter does._

_This story takes place during the second season of the show. It stars between the second and third episode and I've taken major liberties with the timeline. I haven't written a story that's based on the show like this before and It's kind of fun. However, I don't want to reinvent the wheel so I'm not going to write the exact scenes unless my OC is in them. I'm kind of assuming that you all have seen the second season, and if you haven't you'll probably be able to follow the story anyway._

_Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Are you going to hit me with the bat?  
**

"Teller – Morrow." Gemma answered the phone.

"Hi Gemma, it's Jack." Jack owned a café on main street, he was a friend of the club, gave them good prices on lunch and catering whenever they asked and was an old class mate of Gemma's.

"Hi Jack! All good?"

"Yeah, I wanna ask a favor."

Gemma was glad to be able to do him a favor, he has never asked for one and this was an opportunity for her to show how much she appreciated his friendship.

"Sure, Jack. Anything."

"I've got a friend who needs her car serviced."

"Ok? You need a good price?" That didn't seem like something he would consider a favor.

"Yes, that too, she doesn't have much money. But more importantly, it needs to be done completely off the books, no putting in her name or plate in a computer, preferably not mentioned anywhere at all."

"I'd love to do that for you, you know that, but I need to know what we're dealing with."

"She not on the run from the law, if that's what you mean. But she doesn't have any car insurance on it, it's complicated."

"Why?"

"It's an ex, she's got restraining orders and shit, but... Apparently DMV are a huge problem with these types of problems, she's ok with the cops here but..."

"Ok, I get it." Gemma said. "It's not a problem Jack, just give me the info and I'll have Jax look after her."

"Good, thanks. I owe you one."

"No you don't. We'll take care of her."

Gemma got the info on the woman and went out to find Jax.

-o0o-

Jax watched as the Black 1969 Karmann Ghia drove up on the lot. This was the car he had been waiting for.

When the owned of the car got out of it Jax was surprised, she was a small, lean and had thick chocolate brown, almost black hair. She wore jeans and a white ribbed tank top with a gray cardigan over it. Why she insisted on the cardigan in this heat, he couldn't figure out. Nice ass and handful tits, he couldn't see her eyes due to the aviator sunglasses she was wearing. What stunned him was the girl who jumped out on the other side of the car, she also had almost black, curly hair, alabaster skin and she wore a navy blue dress, white knee socks and was about four years old. He walked up to the woman.

"Hi, I'm guessing you're the one Jack called about?"

"Yes, I really appreciate this."

"No problem, anything wrong with it?"

"No, but it is a Ghia, she needs love in the form of service to co-operate." she said with a smile.

He turned to the little girl, "Your mom and I are going to have to fix some stuff, would you like something to drink while you're waiting?"

She looked up at him with big blue eyes, "Can I go look at the bikes?" She pointed to the bikes parked close to the clubhouse.

"Honey, I'm not sure that's such a good idea." The woman said.

"Sure she can, it's no problem."

"Ok, Grace, do you remember the rule when you are looking at bikes?" Jax looked at them with a curious eye. They had rules for that? It was obviously not the first time she was looking at bikes.

"Sure mom, keep my hands in my pockets the entire time." Smart girls, even kids could get into trouble if they messed with a man's bike. This girl was tiny though so he doubted she would be able to do any damage even if she tried. But, hand in pockets sounded like a plan.

"Ok. Be careful."

The girl ran off with her hands in the pockets of her dress. He went for the papers and when he got out he saw the girl walking from one bike to the other, looking, leaning forward, all the time with the hands in the pockets.

"Sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Ava Sanders."

"Jax Teller."

"Jack said it would be off the books." She looked worried, Jax only got the basic info from his mom, which was 'keep it off the books and no unnecessary questions'.

"Sure, no records on computers, but I still need your info and info on the car. We'll keep it on papers in the office until we're done and then they disappear."

She nodded. "Ok. Just wanted to make sure. I... I can't have any insurance on it."

"You can get into trouble for that if the cops ask you, but I'm guessing you know that."

"I do." That was all she said. Well, it wasn't his problem.

They started filling out the papers, now and then Ava looked up and glanced at Grace.

"What is she doing?" Jax had to ask, she was knelt down, looking at the engine on Half-sacks bike.

"Probably looking at the engine, to see what you've done with it." Ava answered after another quick glance at her daughter.

"What?" The answer surprised him. "Would she be able to see that?"

"She knows a lot about bikes. Loves them. My brother is a mechanic, he's taught her loads. She reads books about bikes all the time as well."

Jax was stunned, that kid wasn't very old and not only did she know about bikes, she was reading books about them. Who were these people?

When they were almost finished Clay, Bobby, Tig, Chibs and Hap drove up on the lot. The girl, Grace, watched them as they parked, still with her hands in the pockets. When they shut of their engines she walked straight up to Haps bike. Leaned over to see better. Hap just looked at the kid, confusion written all over his face. Jax could hardly keep himself from laughing, Hap wasn't the kid-loving kind.

Happy was looking at the little kid when she was walking around his bike, she was leaning forward, looking at the engine and then walked over to the other side, looking closely there as well.

"What are you doing?" He finally had to ask. The kid looked up at him, still with her hands in her pockets. Smiling. She had the biggest, bluest fucking eyes he had ever seen.

"Hey, kid, where's you mom?" Chibs asked. The girl just looked at him and Happy started to wonder what she had in her pockets since she wouldn't take out her hands.

"Where's your mom?" Clay repeated Chibs question. The girl looked at him and then down on his cut, then nodded towards the garage and they all looked up and Happy noticed the back of a kind of short woman, long dark hair and a really nice ass in a pair of jeans.

Then she looked over at Happy again. "I like your bike best, if you had a bitch seat I would tell my mom to date you."

The comment almost made him fall of his bike.

"I could date you mom." Bobby laughed, the girl just shook her head.

"Why not?" He heard Clay teaser her.

"I don't like ape hangers." She said.

"A girl with taste." Tig said and laughed. "Maybe I could date your mom then?" She just shook her head again and smiled.

"Looks like you already have." Clay said when he walked up and looked at the girl.

"What?" Tig said and Clay nodded towards her.

"Look at those eyes." He smiled. "What about my bike? You don't like it?"

She walked over to his bike and looked at it, she still had her hands in her pockets.

"It's a 2008 Dyna. You haven't altered much. I like the thunderhead exhaust pipe and the drag bars. I like drag bars." She said with a smile. Happy could feel his jaw hitting the ground. She moved to the front of the Prez bike. "I don't like forward basing intake."

"That one." He said pointing at Tigs and she moved over to his.

"You've done a lot!" she said and looked at Tig and then leaned forward. "To the engine as well. I don't like all the chrome. But I like the skulls. Is it a 96ci engine?" She looked at Tig who just nodded with a smile.

"Jesus!" Chibs said, "Where did you learn all that?"

"My uncle, and I read books about bikes." She said, still with her hands in her pockets. "I still like that guys bike the best." She nodded towards him and he smiled, the girl had taste, and she knew bikes like a mechanic. He wondered how old she was. She was small, maybe six. Happy wasn't good at judging a kids age.

"Happy's bike?" Clay said with a smile.

"Is that his name?" She said with a giggle.

"You can read?" Clay asked and the girl just rolled her eyes. "And why are you keeping your hands in you pocket?"

"Mom says I have to keep my hands in my pockets when I'm looking at bikes."

Her mom was obviously a smart woman. And just as she mentioned her she came walking towards them and Happy realized that it wasn't just her ass that was fine. She opened the door on a black Karmann Ghia and took a pink backpack and a black bag. A woman with a daughter who know bikes and who drove a Karmann Ghia. Not even mentioning she was quite pretty.

"Mom, remember my Motörhead cd!" Geez, how did you get a kid like that?

"Got it, Grace." she leaned over to pick out the cd and Happy had to admit it once again, that was a very nice ass. She walked over to the girl. "You ok?" Grace, it was a nice name, classic.

"Anyone you know?" Clay asked Tig who looked at the women with a big smile on his face.

"Nope!"

"Look mom, that's a Super glide with a 124ci engine and a lock-up clutch."

"Grace, I don't even know what that means." Well, obviously nobody's perfect. But then again, a bitch who knew bikes wasn't really a proper bitch.

"It's awesome! That's what it means." She said. "If he had a bitch seat I would have told you to date him."

The mom looked at Jax. "What did she just say?"

"That she thinks you should date him." He smiled. Happy didn't date, ever. And even a pretty woman like this wouldn't be a women he dated. He wouldn't mind fucking her though.

"No, what kind of seat?"

"Bitch seat, for a passenger."

She turned towards the Kid, Grace, just looking at her and then her mouth turned into a big smile and she walked up to her, tossed her into the air and kissed her. "Bitch seat? I'm going to have a serious talk to your uncle." Then she tickled her.

Grace giggled. "Moooom, it's what it's called."

"I'm pretty sure there's another name for it." She kissed her again before putting her down on the ground and turned to Jax. He handed her a bunch of papers.

"Here's you copies. We'll call you when you can pick up your car."

"Thanks." she looked down at Grace again. "Come on, we're outta here, say goodbye and thank you to everyone."

Grace waved at them. The others waved back but Happy just kept looking at the mom. Even if she had a kid, he definitely wouldn't mind hooking up with her once in a while.

"How are we getting home?" Grace asked.

"The bus."

"I don't like the bus."

"Well, hon', it's the bus or walking."

"I can call you a cab." Jax said.

"Nah, it's fine, we'll take the bus."

"It's not a problem. We got them on speed dial."

"Appreciate it, but I can't afford it." She smiled and then knelt down to put the pink backpack on the kid.

"Can I piggy back ride? I'll give you two kisses." The girls said with big, begging eyes.

"Hmm. ok." The girl grabbed her moms neck and gave her two quick kisses and then climbed up on her back. "Thanks." She said to Jax and then nodded too Happy and the others and started to walk of the lot. When she pouted her lips for the kisses he noticed that they where very full. Ok, he needed to snap out of this, besides, she was walking off the lot so he would probably never see her again.

Gemma came walking, "Who's that?"

"The woman with the Karmann Ghia, the one Jack called about."

"Why didn't you call her a cab?" Gemma sounded annoyed, as she so often did.

"Said she couldn't afford one."

"You asshole!" Gemma said. "Gonna let a woman walk home, how did I raise you?" And she ran after the woman. That was surprising and very unlike Gemma. She usually couldn't have cared less about shit like that.

"What was her name?" Tig asked.

"Ava."

Ava and Grace. Sounded nice.

"Classy." Chibs said.

"Sure you've never tapped her?" Clay asked, "That girl had eyes the same color as yours."

"Pretty sure." Tig said. Happy looked at Tig, any man would remember hitting something like that. Without a doubt.

"You're nuts, that's not Chibs kid." Jax laughed.

"That little girl really knew bikes." Clay smiled.

Gemma came walking with Ava and Grace. "You know men, wouldn't know good manners if it hit them in the face. We'll give you a lift home."

"It's really not necessary." Ava tried. If she had known Gemma she'd know that it was completely futile, she had made up her mind. She put down Grace and then took off her glasses. Her eyes weren't blue, they were amber, a rich gold color towards the pupil and a dark ring around the iris, it looked amazing. She had an embarrassed look on her face and bit her lip.

"Hap, take my car and give her a lift." Hap looked at Gemma, was she insane? He was not the go-to-guy for lifts. The other seemed to think the same thing and Jax's mouth was open. But no way would he question Gemma. No-one would so they all just looked at him as he walked up to her.

"Ehrm, ok?" He took the keys from Gemma and went to her car.

"This really isn't necessary." Ava tried again and Happy stopped to look at her, she was looking at Gemma with an almost pleading face.

"You're our customer, we take care of our customers."

"Can I talk to him now?" Grace was pointing at him and Ava looked at him.

"What? Oh, sure."

The girl walked up to him and looked at him, she was so small, her head was bent back so far it looked like she was about to tip over.

"Why haven't you put a Bitch seat on your bike?" If anyone else had asked he would have said it was because he didn't want any bitches on his bike, but even Happy knew that was probably not something you said to a small kid.

"Honey, maybe we could _not_ ask any questions and just get to the car."

"But you said I could talk to him."

"Yes, but just... get to the car. I'll be right there."

She ran over to her car and picked out a car seat for the kid and then to Gemma's car were he was waiting, she strapped the kid in and got into the car herself.

"Where are we going?" he asked. She gave him his address and they took of. She didn't say anything in the car and when he pulled up in front of an apartment building she turned around.

"Shit.

"What?"

"She fell asleep." She got out of the car, managed to get Grace out and then tried to take out the car seat with the kid in her arms.

"Hang on." Happy said, Gemma would take off his balls if he didn't help this chick. He took the car seat the pink backpack and motioned towards the house. "Lead the way."

She walked ahead of him, he had never in his life carried anything pink and he wasn't comfortable with it. She started to search her bag and got up a set of keys, put it in the door and tried to open it.

"Damn! Can you help? You have to kind of push the door while turning the key."

He walked up and did as she said.

"You can just leave the car seat in the hallway, I can take the backpack." He walked through the door, put down the car seat on the floor and looked into the apartment. The apartment smelled nice, sweet. But it was worn, despite being neat and clean it was obvious that it was worn and pretty empty. He turned around and she pointed towards a door behind him. "I need to..."

He walked further into the hallway and she opened the door and walked inside with the kid. He looked into the room. There was a small white bed with pink sheets, a small, white, secretary desk with drawers, a bookcase and two pink wooden boxes on the floor. On the walls were pictures of bikes and princesses. It was all nice, neat, but once again, obviously pimped up second hand stuff.

She pulled off the kids shoes, stroke the hair out of her face and put a blanket on her. She walked out and shut the door behind her.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it. And I'm sorry for... her comments. She just... really love bikes." She had a husky voice, Happy was starting to wonder if there was anything about this woman that wasn't sexy.

"It's ok."

She just nodded at him. He wanted to talk to her more, know more about her.

"Have you lived here long?"

"No, we moved here four months ago, from San Francisco."

"You work?"

"Yeah, at the library." If this was what librarians look like maybe he should go there more often. He was trying to find something else to say. He didn't want her to stop talking, he wanted to hear more of that voice.

"Why'd you move here?" She still smiled but she looked uncomfortable.

"I'm sure that lady wants her car back." She was avoiding his question.

"Yeah."

"Thank you, again, for your help."

"Sure."

When he walked out the door he noticed two bolt locks on the inside of the door, a quick look when he opened the door made him notice the safety studs on the hinges. That was hardly standard in this apartment. And she wasn't scared of a burglary, the sound of the bolt locks when he had left the apartment confirmed that. She was keeping someone out.

Ava closed the door and bolted it shut. She didn't want to answer any questions. Frankly she wouldn't even know were to start. She was also embarrassed over the complete mess she had made of her life and more importantly, her kids life, what kind of a mom did that? That wasn't something you wanted to discuss with a big-ass biker who your daughter had tried to pimp you out to.

She turned around and looked at the apartment. I looked just as cheap as it was, it was all she could offer her kid, she couldn't even afford a fucking cab this month since she had to service her car. She could've skipped it but if it broke down it would be even more expensive and she wouldn't be able to keep it. She leaned towards the door, slid down until she was sitting on the floor and held her knees.

She took some deep breathes, there was no point in crying about it. She was fine, Grace was fine, she had a job and they were safe. That was all that mattered. She pulled herself off the floor and walked into the kitchen and roamed the cupboards and fridge. She needed to make something for Grace to eat when she woke up.

-o0o-

Happy came back to the garage and walked up to Jax.

"Hey, that chick who was here?"

"With the kid?"

"Yeah, got her info?"

"Why?"

"Something's off."

"What?"

He wasn't sure where to begin, there was a lot of things that were off. "She... she's got bolt locks and safety studs on her door. She put them up herself."

"So?"

"Don't know, just that something's off."

Jax just looked at him. Then he shrugged, got her info and gave it to Happy. "We did this as a favor for Jack, keeping it off the books, so don't raise any alerts."

"Why?"

"Don't know, Mom just said it needed to be off the books, I didn't ask why."

"So something is definitely off then?" Happy said and went to find Juice.

"Can you do a search on her? Needs to be discrete, noting that shows. Gemma will have a fit if you raise any alarms." He said to Juice as he handed him the note with the info.

"Who is she?"

"She was here earlier. Don't know, got this feeling something's off."

"Cop?"

"No, not that." She wasn't a cop, no cop would agree to a undercover job and live under those conditions, they wouldn't have bothered with the door either.

"Hang on, was this the chick with the kid?" He should have known, words travel fast here.

"Yeah."

"Ok, I'll let you know what I find."

-o0o-

The next day they were sitting at the bar, having coffee when Juice walked in.

"Hey, that girl, Ava Sanders."

Happy turned towards him. "Yeah."

"Basically, she doesn't live her in Charming."

"What!" Jax said.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Happy asked.

"My guess, she's running from someone and the government is helping her. She exist, but on paper she still lives in San Francisco, at an address that's a government building."

"So, what? She's got a new identity?" Tig asked

"No, that's not it, it's just, she's not registered anywhere It's not like a new identity, milder form, basically everything about her points to one point. If you want to contact her you have to go through official channels and they'll relay it to her. It's, well, not complicated, but there is no record of her living here or her kid." Happy knew that not anyone could get that kind of protection, you needed good reasons.

"Did she say anything?" Clay asked Happy.

"No, she said she had moved here four months ago, when I asked why she avoided the question."

"Who sent her to us?" Clay was looking at Jax

"Jack, at the café. It was a favor, Gemma talked to him. We did it off the books."

"Why the fuck would she agree to that?"

"I don't know. She didn't have a insurance on the car and some other stuff. I didn't ask."

"We need to find out what this is about. I don't want this to blow back in our face. I'll have a talk to Gemma. You, Hap, go talk to the girl."

"What?" Why the fuck where they sending him? First Gemma and now Clay.

"You gave her a lift home, you know where she lives and she knows who you are."

"Yeah but..."

"Just find out what the fuck this is about. Fucking Gemma!" Clay said and got up, probably to talk to Gemma.

-o0o-

Ava was lying on the sofa reading when she heard a knock on the door. She wasn't expecting any visitors. She hardly knew anyone in this town, so she walked slowly to Grace's door and closed it soundlessly, she didn't want her to wake up. Then she picked up the baseball bat she had next to the door and stood there, as quiet as possible.

There was another knock on the door, but she didn't move. The third knock and an irritated voice said.

"Ava, I know you're in there, I saw the lights."

It sounded like the biker guy, he had a very distinct voice to say the least. She carefully opened the door with the safety chain still attached.

"What are you doing here?" It was him. It was nine o' clock on a Wednesday, what the hell was he doing here?

"Open the door."

"Why?"

"I just want to talk, open."

She got a bit frightened, she wasn't unfamiliar with bikers, her brother knew a lot about them without being one or even wanting to be one. They weren't all nice enthusiasts, some of them were downright nasty.

He was looking at her and then down to her hand that was holding the bat. "I'm not going to hurt you."

She closed the door again and took of the chain before opening the door and letting him in. She was assuming he wouldn't hurt her, she doubted that the chain would have done much good if he made an effort.

"That chain won't do much you know." He said as if he could read her mind.

"What do you want?"

He looked around and towards Grace's door and then down to the bat she was still holding in her hand.

"You can put that away. I'm not going to hurt you."

She was all of a sudden extremely fed up with him not answering he questions. What the fuck was the point with this? Why was he here?

"Just tell me what you want."

He shrugged and then walked into the kitchen. She followed him, still holding the bat.

"Hey!" she raised her voice "Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

He turned around quickly and looked her right into her eyes. She realized that she was wearing sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt with her hair up, she probably wasn't a very intimidating sight even with the bat and he suddenly didn't look like he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Don't talk to me like that."

That really pissed her off. "Don't you dare walking into my apartment and tell me how I can and can't talk to you."

"I'm guessing that mouth is what got you in trouble to begin with." His black eyes were narrowed and he looked as pissed as she felt.

What the fuck! What did he know? She remembered him looking at the bolt locks and the quick look at the hinges. She hoped that he had just jumped to conclusions. Not that he would have found anything even if he did do a check up on her. And then she got _really_ pissed. What was that fucking comment coming from? Like he had some right to judge her? That she deserved some shit.

"Get the _fuck_ out of here!" she said and pointed with the bat against the door.

"Or what, are you going to hit me with the bat?"

"I'm considering it."

He moved fast, she didn't have a chance to even react and then he had taken the bat from her, pulled her arm behind her back and holding her around her stomach. She was scared, but she managed not to scream and only whispered.

"Please, don't hurt Grace." That was all she could think of, she didn't give a shit about what he did to her, as long as he didn't hurt Grace.

He let go of her as he had been burnt, she took a deep breath and turned around, to see what he was going to do.

"I told you, I'm not going to hurt you." And then his eyes went down to her stomach and she realized that her sweater had run up almost to her chest. "What's that?"

"Nothing." She said while pulling it down.

"Doesn't look like nothing."

"Why do you care?"

"Who are you hiding from?"

She was slightly scared but also very annoyed, why was he here? This was none of his business, she just wanted to be left alone. Why the hell had Jack given her the number to and MC-club? There must be other garages in this town.

"Please, I just wanted to have my car fixed, this is none of your concern. Just give me my car back and you won't see or hear from me again."

"Mom?" She flinched when she hear Grace calling from the hallway. She turned around and went to her.

"Sweetie, what are you doing up?"

"Who's here?" She looked into the kitchen and when she saw who it was, she smiled. "Hi, Happy." Was that his name?

"Honey, just go back to sleep."

Grace looked at her. "Did he hurt you?"

"No, Honey, he didn't, I'm fine, I promise. He just wants to talk to me."

Grace was far too smart for her own good and she knew her mom, she could tell that something was wrong, it was almost impossible to lie to her. And it didn't work this time either, she looked towards Happy and before Ava could stop her she walked pass her and looked up at Happy.

"Please, don't hurt my mom." She was holding her arms out, like she wanted to protect her, and Ava felt her heart break, again. She shouldn't even consider that a man would hurt her mom. This was horrible, a small child shouldn't react like this. How the hell did she manage to fuck up this bad?

Happy looked at Grace and then Ava, standing behind her, he was horrified at the look on her face. He felt bad the second he pulled that bat out of her hand, when she asked him not to hurt the kid he felt sick, but now! What the hell had happened to this kid, what had she seen to react this way? Trying to protect her mom, telling him not to hurt her. That just wasn't right.

"I'm not going to hurt her."

Ava took Grace in her arms, "It's going to be fine honey. I promise, he's just here to ask some questions. I'll be fine."

She carried her to her room, he heard mumbles and then she came out again. Even with that tired look on her face, in sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt, she was pretty, almost beautiful.

"She's just worried." she said while rubbing her face with her hands, "She's smart, smarter than what's good for her."

He wasn't surprised, she had talked about bikes like a 40-year old mechanic. He felt like an asshole for scaring her, for scaring both of them.

"Who are you hiding from?"

She walked passed him and into the kitchen, "I don't want to stand in the hallway and talk about this." she said and pointed at the closed door behind her.

He followed her and watched her sit down at the table. He sat down in front of her.

"Tell me."

"Her dad. He... I met him when I was, pretty messed up."

"How?"

"My parents died, my brother had... problems."

"What problems?" Not that he really cared about her brother, but he needed to keep her talking. Sometimes it was easier to start by talking about someone else.

"Drugs." She looked up at him and he raised his eyebrows. "He's clean now, has been for six years. But I was, just, I don't know. A mess. It was the usual story, he was nice at first, then he started to get jealous and one day he hit me."

"And you left?"

"No, I stayed for four years, then I got pregnant. I didn't think much of myself, I didn't really care what he did to me, but I just couldn't let him..."

He understood.

"We managed to stay away for a while, but now and then he..." she trailed of and shrugged her shoulders.

"...finds you."

"Yes, and we move again."

"He did those scars on your stomach?"

"Yes." She was looking down on the table. It was probably not all he did to her.

"How do you know Jack?"

"He was a friend of my parents. Jonah didn't know about him, so he helped me, to get a job and an apartment here. He knows I don't have much money and that I don't have insurance and shit and when I needed to service my car he called you. Usually my brother helps me with it."

"Why doesn't your brother help you with money?"

She looked at him with a surprised face, like it was the most stupid question ever. "I don't want his money."

She was one of those, who just had to fix things herself. Look at where that got her.

"Why don't you get a gun?"

"I have a five-year old in my house. I'm not going to keep a gun here."

"That bat isn't going to help you."

"Helped fine until you got here." She said and glared at him. He couldn't stop a smile from twitching in the corners of his mouth. He noticed her seeing it and suddenly she started laughing, that really shocked him. An once she started she didn't seem to be able to stop.

"What?" he finally asked.

She shook her head, still laughing, holding her face in her hands. "What?" He asked again and suddenly he started laughing as well.

"It's just... 'until you got here'..." she started laughing again. "It's not like I get a lot of visitors."

"See, you need something else than a bat."

She started to wipe her face again, "I don't want a gun. It's not safe with Grace here. Besides, if you had been him I wouldn't have hesitated with the bat."

"You can store a gun safely here, she wouldn't be able to hurt herself with it if you did it the right way."

She just shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks, I'll be fine."

That's when it hit him. This shouldn't have been this easy. "Why are you telling me these things?"

"You asked."

"No, that's not why you're telling me this." She didn't answer, just looked at him. "You're going to run again."

"This is none of your concern."

"It is now." Shit, if him coming here, asking questions meant that she would take that kid an run again, it was his fucking business. "I'm not letting you run because of this."

"Who says I'm running?"

"All over your face." She looked at him. "I'll make sure you're safe."

"I'll be fine."

"You need help if you're going to be fine."

"Why do you care about this?" She looked angry again, what was it with some chicks and accepting help? And why did he care? What was it with her, and that scary smart kid of hers, that made him feel like he needed to make sure that they were ok. Besides the fact that he wanted to rip of those clothes and fuck her till the sun came up. But she didn't seem to be in the right state for that.

"Does it matter why I care."

"Look, Happy, if that's you name, I.. apr..." He didn't want to hear that. Again.

"Appreciate, what? You 'appreciate' quite a lot of stuff. Maybe you should accept some help?"

"How are you going to help me?" She still looked angry.

"I'm going to help you help yourself, use a gun, self defense. Maybe I won't be able to disarm you that easily next time. And I'm gonna make sure you don't have to run because of this."

"I still don't understand why _you_ care."

He couldn't answer that question. "Does it matter?"

"Why should I trust you?"

"You need to trust someone."

"And you would be the obvious choice?" She said with a smile. He had to give her a point, he could come off as quite intimidating, he knew that. That was even what he usually aimed for, intimidating people.

"That Jonah, what was he like when you met him?" He saw her jump, look at him, and he knew he got it right. Some handsome, charming dude, without a doubt.

"I see your point." She looked tired, and slightly humiliated. That hadn't been his intention. He got up and she stood up as well.

"So we have a deal?"

"Ok."

"Do you work everyday?"

"No, just part time."

They were at the door. "Tomorrow?"

"No."

"I'll pick you up in the morning, after you've left her at school."

"Ok."

He needed to touch her again, she was standing looking at the floor. When he was reaching for her she flinched and looked at him with frightened eyes.

"I won't hurt you." He said and then he got out. He wasn't sure this was the smart thing to do, get involved. But he felt like he owed her. He scared her, in her own home, she should be able to feel safe there.


	2. You should've listened to Gemma

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or the characters. It's all Kurt Sutter's doing._

_I forgot some very important information before the first chapter and when I added it I wrote that it starts after the first episode of the second season, which it doesn't, I'm so sorry. I've added the correct info below and changed it in the first chapter as well_

_This story takes place during the second season of the show. It stars between the second and third episode and I've taken major liberties with the timeline. I haven't written a story that's based on the show like this before and It's kind of fun. However, I don't want to reinvent the wheel so I'm not going to write the exact scenes unless my OC is in them. I'm kind of assuming that you all have seen the second season, and if you haven't you'll probably be able to follow the story anyway._

_And a huge thank you for the major feedback on this story. I just hope that I won't disappoint anyone. If you have any questions and don't want to leave a review you are always welcome to contact me with a PM. Thank you for ALL of the reviews and I'm really happy to see that quite a few of my readers from the other story are following this one as well. I'll take that as a compliment._

* * *

**Chapter 2: You should've listened to Gemma**

Happy was back at the club house and found most of the Sons standing around the bar.

"Hey, how did it go?" Jax asked and the rest of them looked at him.

"She's running from the kids dad. Jonah something."

"Hey, Hap, found some other stuff on that chick." Juice came walking towards him with his laptop in his hands. "This is some nasty shit."

"What?" Happy asked.

Juice put the computer on the bar and flipped it open. "This dude, Jonah Richardson, she had a restraining order filed against him over six years ago. Since I couldn't find anything on her I did some digging on him instead."

"She said she left when she got pregnant, probably when she got that restraining order."

"He has violated it like six times, beat her up really bad a few of the them."

"Why the fuck isn't he in jail?" Jax asked

"Good lawyer, fuck do I know?" Juice shrugged.

"It's usually like that with domestic abuse." Bobby said. "They can't do anything until the fucker kills the chick. Fucking hopeless."

"Last time he violated it was four months ago, in Washington."

"Washington? She said she moved here from San Francisco."

"She probably lied." Tig said.

"How did she know Jack?" It was Jax asking the question.

"A friend of her parents." Happy explained. "Said he helped her out, to move here and shit."

Gemma and Tara came though the door. Happy had noticed that they had started to get along a lot better the last couple of weeks.

"What are you up to?" Tara asked as she put her arm around Jax.

"Talking about that chick, with the girl who know everything about bikes." Jax explained.

"What about her?"

"She's on the run from some abusive fuck, her girls dad." Juice was keeping his eyes on the screen.

"Jack just said it was one of her ex's." Gemma said. "What did he do to her?"

"More a question of what he didn't do to her." He tapped the keyboard. "These documents are sealed but I got limited access to them. Violating restraining order, assault, aggravated assault, rape, that was the first three years. She hasn't filed any charges the last couple of years as far as I can tell. Probably didn't think there was any point since he was never convicted. Looks like she disappeared before the trial most of the times. He probably threatened her."

Happy felt sick, why the fuck had he grabbed her like that? He looked at the others. He knew these people, they had done some bad shit, not even mentioning what he had done, but this was just... sick. Gemma and Tara looked about as sick as he felt.

"What did she tell you?" Jax looked at him.

"She met him after her parents had died, her brother was on drugs and she was..." he wasn't sure how to finish it.

"... easy prey." Gemma nodded.

"Something like that. Stayed with him for four years and took off when she got pregnant."

"Four years?" Chibs said. "What the fuck?"

"It's hard for these women. And she was alone, she didn't have anyone else and the probably kept her isolated from other friends as well." Tara said in a defensive tone. "I'm quite impressed she managed to leave at all. Took a lot of guts."

"Becoming a mother changes you perspective on a lot of things." Gemma turned her attention back to him. "Where does she live?"

"In one of the apartments on 7th and Park Lane."

"Those dumps?" She looked horrified.

"She probably couldn't afford anything else." Hap shrugged.

"Does she have a job?" Tara asked.

"Said she worked part time at the library."

"You need a masters to do that." She seemed surprised. "Masters in Library science is probably not that many years of education, but even so."

Juice kept clicking on the computer. "Just says she's got one, took it four years ago, doesn't say where though. Probably to protect her."

"That's fucking impressive." Clay said. "Taking a masters with a kid and on the run."

That was fucking impressive. Hap thought about her, standing in front of him with a bat in her hand telling him that she was considering hitting him with it. She didn't come off as a bitch who stayed with a guy who abused her for four years. When he grabbed her, she didn't cry, the only thing she did was asking him not to hurt her kid.

"So what now?" Bobby asked. "Leave her to her faith or try to help her? I know we're not running a fucking charity here but..."

"We can't just 'leave her to her faith'." Gemma looked horrified.

He decided that they needed to know. "She's about to run again."

"Why?"

"Because I came around and asked questions. Guess she thinks it's best she disappears again."

"Clay, we can't let her do that! We can't be the reason she feels the need to run again." Gemma said.

"We keep Charming safe, just like we always have. And she's in Charming." Clay said.

"I hate to be this fucking guy again..." Tig said. "But are we really going let an outsider into our business? Just because we feel sorry for her. I mean... those chicks are pretty fucking common."

"She's got a little girl! There's nothing saying that guy won't kill her and her girl after he rapes her the next time." Gemma was looking angry. Happy thought it was a bit odd. Gemma wasn't usually soft on outside people and he wondered why she was so defensive of this chick.

"Statistic says that's what he's going to do sooner or later." Bobby said.

"We're not going to let her into our business but that doesn't mean we can't keep an eye on her." Clay said. "Hap, did you get to know her?"

"A little." He argued with himself for a while on whether he was going to tell them or not, and finally decided it was easier to tell them. "I told her I was going to teach her to use a gun."

They all turned their eyes to him and looked stunned. He just glared back at them, daring them to comment on it. Finally Chibs opened his mouth.

"She can't use it?"

"She doesn't have one." He answered.

"You're shitting me?" Jax managed to look even more surprised, they all did.

"Why the fuck isn't she packing?" Clay asked.

"Said she didn't want one in the house with the kid."

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Juice said, pretty much summing up what they all felt.

"Good, teach her." Clay said he slammed his hand on the counter to indicate that the discussion was over. Then he took Happy to the side. "See what else you can find out. If anything seems off, I want to know immediately. I want to make sure that this isn't some bullshit or just some girl trying to become an old lady."

"Sure, Prez."

"We've had those before so double eyes, make sure she's ok and that she's not up to something. I'm not in the habit of trusting women. It all seems legit by it's a bit too fucking convenient that she lands on our lot."

"Jack sent her." Happy reminded him. "And Gemma asked me to give her a ride."

Clay just laughed. "You've got a lot to learn about women, Killer. But I'll have Jax talk to Jack to see what he has to say."

Happy just nodded. Gemma motioned to him to come over and he went to see what the Queen wanted.

-o0o-

"Hey, where did you go?" Jax asked Tara when they were about to go to bed later that evening.

"Thinking about that woman. With the kid."

"Ava?"

"Yeah." Jax looked at Tara and knew what she was thinking.

"That couldn't have been you, you know that."

"But it could Jax. It _was_. I just got out quicker. She was so young when she met that guy, no family, nothing. She had no where to run and she still did it. With a kid, got an education. She's..."

"She's what?"

"I know you guys probably think she's weak..."

"I don't!" He tried to defend himself.

"You just don't get it, how strong she had to be to do those things. To just keep going and take care of a kid."

Jax looked at her, he might not have thought she was weak, but probably not strong either. Tara probably had a point. The kid seemed fine. The mom seemed fine as well. He guessed you would have to be strong if you came out of something like that and still managed to come off as completely normal. And get a kid that seemed completely normal as well.

"I guess so." He put his arms around Tara.

"Why did Hap agree to help her?"

"Beats me." Jax had been wondered the same thing. "He gave her a lift home yesterday. Clay sent him there since she knew him, no idea what happened when he was there. Could just be that nice piece of ass. Don't know."

"Think he'll be nice to her. I mean..." Tara was struggling with the words and Jax gave her a hug to calm her down.

"She talked to him at least, agreed to let him teach her to use a gun."

"She probably didn't dare to say no." Tara laughed. "You know he scares the shit outta me when he looks at me."

"He wouldn't do anything to you. He'd defend you to the death if I asked him to."

"I know, he's just... scary."

"You can trust him, honey."

"Think she can?"

"Yeah, Clay said we were going to keep an eye on her. Happy'll do that."

"I'd like to meet her. And her kid, she seemed wonderful."

"I'm sure you will. I'm mostly surprised about mom's reaction. She seemed ready to shoot that guy herself."

"Yeah..." That was all Tara said, he kissed her and a while later they were both sleeping.

-o0o-

Happy came the next morning, just like he said he would. She had kind of hoped that it was something he would just say and then forget about it. But he didn't, and nine o'clock he was outside her door.

"Do you want some coffee?"

He just shook his head. Such a talker, she thought to herself. Not that it bothered her, she never saw the point in filling the silence with useless chatter.

"Where are we going?" She just wanted to know, since she didn't have a car she wanted to make sure she got back in time to pick up Grace from school.

"You'll see."

'Such a helpful and informative man'. But she picked up her things and locked the door. "How are we getting there then?"

"I got your car."

She walked out and saw her baby! She loved that car, she got up to it and felt herself smiling like an idiot before remembering the tough part. "How much?"

"Nothing." He answered and walked towards the drivers side.

"What! Why?"

"Special deal."

That was a bonus, but she didn't like to owe people anything. "Why?"

"Jack asked for it."

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" He just shook his head and started to open the door. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm driving."

"No way, this is my car!"

"Get in!"

She didn't, she just stood there, arms crossed. He started the car and she still didn't get in. He could drive off for all she cared, that was her fucking car and he was not driving it while she was in it.

He leaned over to the passenger side and opened the door. "Are you coming?"

"I'm driving or I'm going back inside." He stared at her and she just stared back. Finally she explained. "This car is my second baby, I've had it since I was seventeen, it was the last thing my parents bought me. There is no fucking way I'm going to let you drive it with me in it."

He stared at her for a few more minutes, she saw a twitch in the corners of his mouth and then he moved over to the passenger seat. She walked around to the other side with a big smile on her face. Got in and stroked the dashboard. "You ok baby? Did the big bad biker treat you nicely?"

"Are you talking to you car?" He stared at her in disbelief.

"Do you talk to you bike?" He kept looking at her for a while and then just turned his head to the windshield. "Were are we going?"

"We're need to make a stop at Gemma's first. Just drive, I'll tell you were to turn."

"You need to point."

"What?"

"I'm not very good at left and right, you need to point."

She had never been able to keep the two apart, it was a constant source of amusement to her brother. And anger. If she was to give direction their car rides usually ended with him screaming; 'Just fucking point, don't say anything, just point"

"Jesus fucking Christ." She heard Happy mutter next to her, mostly to himself.

Gemma came with two hatboxes full of guns and had her try each and everyone to figure out which one suited her hand the best. Her only requirement was that it had to have a safety and that it wasn't too easy to pull.

"It's going to be though for you, hon', if the trigger is hard."

"I'm not planing on shooting with it very often, or that many times." She was actually planing on hiding it somewhere and then forget that she had it. But she couldn't really say that.

When they got out in to the car again, Happy looked at her. "You do realize that I'm going to make fucking sure you keep that gun handy and not let you just hide it away."

'Bastard', she thought. He picked up on that. "Sure."

It's wasn't like he was going to stay around forever. From the corner of her eye she saw him staring at her, that twitch in the corner of his mouth was there again. She refused to acknowledge it and just kept driving in the direction he had given her. He turned his eyes to the road after a while and the rest of the way they didn't say anything but 'that way' as he pointed.

-o0o-

Happy handed her the gun, it was a small Glock 22. Gemma had said it was a good gun to start with and he kind of agreed. The trigger was a bit too hard as far as he was concerned but he was going to make that very obvious to her.

He had seen the look on her face, she wasn't planning on using it, he was going to make dame sure she was comfortable with it, and that she kept it handy. The 'sure' in the car didn't fool him for one second.

Stubborn bitch! And the stunt with the car. He felt like a bitch sitting next to her when she was driving. How the fuck did a woman like this accept a man beating her for four years? He couldn't even get her inside a god damn car!

He was standing next to her, he pulled out his own gun. "Look at me. It'll be a kick so you need to braise for it. Hold the gun, but not to hard, just with a determined grip. Aim and then take a breath and squeeze the trigger. Don't pull."

He fired a couple of rounds and she looked at the target.

"Do you have a gun with you at all times?"

"Yeah. Your turn."

She held the gun in front of her in completely the wrong way. He walked up to her to correct her stance but when he touched her she flinched. He held up his hands, palms out. Not a smart move to scare a woman with a gun. In this case she would probably shoot herself in foot before thinking about aiming it at him. But even so.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I'm just going to show you how to position yourself. Ok?"

She looked at him cautiously for a few seconds and then nodded. He found it hard to understand that a women who stared him down over who was going to drive the car completely freaked out when he touched her.

He was standing behind her, his hands on her arms, she was completely stiff. "You need to breathe."

"I'm trying." She said with her jaws clamped shut.

"I won't hurt you, just try to relax." He felt her taking a few deep breaths. "Now focus on the target, just block out everything else, me too, just zoom in on it. And when you are ready, take a deep breath and while letting it out, squeeze the trigger."

She stood there for a few seconds, he felt her taking a deep breath and then she took the shoot. It wasn't to bad.

"I hit it." She leaned forward. "Kind of."

"Good, now you're going to do that over and over again until I say you can stop."

-o0o-

Her right hand were aching so bad she could hardly put the key in the ignition of the car. She saw him looking at her with a smile. That fucking bastard, he seemed to know what she was thinking the entire time.

"Don't!"

"I wasn't going to!" He smiled.

"Yes you were, and just don't!"

"Want me to drive?" She looked at him over the edge of her sunglasses, she had to admit that this was going to be a problem.

"Fuck!" she said and then opened the door. She walked around to the other side and got in on the passenger seat. "If you ever tell anyone I will shoot _you_."

He just smiled. "You should've listened to Gemma."

He took her to the school and they were leaning towards the car when Grace came running. She caught her in her arms, lifted her up and hugged her tight.

"How was your day?"

"Good, Peter Worthington puked after recess, he ate a worm."

"Charming! Why would he do that?"

"I don't know." She turned towards the car and saw Happy. "Hi, what are you doing here?"

"I helped your mom with something." he answered.

"With what?"

"He just brought me the car, honey." she walked up to him and extended her hand. "I'll drive." She didn't want Grace to wonder why she wasn't driving. If she told him her hand hurt she might think that Happy had done something. He just looked at her but handed her the key.

"Give me a lift to the garage."

"Sure."

She made sure that Grace was buckled up and then started the car. It was still hurting, but she just jammed her jaws shut and try to focus on Grace's chatter about her day instead. She noticed Happy looking at her but he didn't say anything. When they got to the garage she turned towards him.

"So..."

"So?"

"I'm not going to pay you, or them?"

"No."

"For anything?"

She was referring to the gun as well as the car but the crooked smile he gave her made her realize that _he_ was referring to something else when he answered. "No, not this time."

She just plastered a smile on her face, trying to not shudder at the thought of the sexual implication. She didn't like sex, she hadn't actually had sex since she was around eighteen. She was pretty sure sex wasn't supposed to be like the things Jonah had done to her the last years of their so-called relationship.

"Thanks." That was all she said, and then she took off.


	3. Are you inviting yourself to dinner?

_A huge, massive, thank you for all you're reviews, they are just amazing and make me really happy!_

_And I still don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters._

_Lyla and Tara will show up, but they're not very big characters in this story._

* * *

**Chapter 3: Are you inviting yourself to dinner?**

-o0o-

He couldn't fucking stop thinking about her. He couldn't figure her out. She stared him down by the car. Freaked out when he touched her. Drove the car when they had picked up Grace. Her hand probably hurting like hell and she didn't even flinch but when he tried to flirt with her she froze up again.

That night he drank, took one of the black haired crow eaters to his room and fucked her doggy style, thinking about Ava. When he was done he sent her out and continued drinking.

The next morning he met Bobby, Chibs, Opie and Tig in the bar.

"Coffee?" Bobby poured him a cup.

"Yeah."

"Made some muffins as well."

"Nah, I'm good." He's head was pounding. Anything but coffee and cigarettes for the next couple of hours would be a problem to keep.

"How did shooting practice go yesterday?" Opie asked with a smile.

"Good." he answered honestly but he glared at Opie. "She did good."

"She's going to need it." Chibs said. "Lass needs to be able to handle a gun."

"She's just going to hide it away." Happy said. He was sure she was. Stubborn bitch.

"Think so?" Tig looked surprised. He didn't want to talk about it. He wanted to see her. Ask her where the gun was, make sure she kept it with her.

Gemma walked in, "You!" She pointed at Hap.

"Yeah?" That women could scare the shit outta him and he wondered what he had done this time.

"Tell Ava that we are having family dinner on sunday and I want her to come."

"Eh... ok?" Family dinner was just that, 'family'. But he wasn't going to question her, it was her house. Besides, it gave him the perfect excuse to talk to Ava again.

"Where's the library?" They all looked at each other completely stunned.

Finally Opie took pity on them.

"Main street, behind the police station."

Happy got up and drove to the library. He felt like an alien when he walked through the doors. Behind the desk was an older woman, looking like he had imagined that a librarian looked like. They weren't hot bitches with perfect ass and tits and a thick shiny hair. They had clamped, straight mouths and not full, red lips. Shit, he needed to stop thinking about her like this.

"Can I help you?" The old lady eyed him, and did her very best to smile.

"I'm here for Ava."

The name made her smile disappear and she seemed to take a closer look at him. He noticed her looking at his patch and then she asked him. "Are you Happy?"

"Eh, yeah." How the hell did she know his name?

"She's in the children's section."

He started to walk away and realized he hand no fucking idea where it was. He turned around again and the woman smiled.

"Up the stairs and to the left."

"Thanks."

It was impossible to miss when you entered the children's section. There were wall paintings, small chairs and tables with toys on. He couldn't remember the library looking like this when he was a kid.

A woman was standing - sorting books - about 15 feet away. She had bitch heals with straps, black pantyhose, a dark gray skirt that ended just under her knees and followed the curve of her thighs up to a perfect fucking ass. The white shirt was close-fitting in a classy way. Her hair in a low messy bun and it was... very dark. What the...

She turned around and he couldn't believe his eyes. His eyes automatic moved down to her tits. They where fucking awesome in the shirt, she had a discrete make-up and looked like a million bucks.

"Happy?"

He tried to focus and finally managed to speak, "Hi."

She walked up to him, smiling but looking slightly confused. Jesus fucking Christ, he had thought she looked almost beautiful in sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt, but this was stunning. Why the hell did she walk around in jeans and a cardigan when she had clothes like this?

"I'm assuming you're not here to borrow a book." Did she have lipstick? Happy had a hard time to focus

"No, I'm..." what was he doing here? "...just making sure you're ok." That was lame. In a split second he decided to not invite her to the dinner just yet. It would give him an excuse to talk to her again, but this was still a pretty lame.

"I'm fine." She smiled. "Hand's good too." At least she didn't seem to find it lame. That was something.

A young girl, Happy thought she looked like she was in her early teens, walked up to Ava.

"Miss Morgan?" That wasn't her name. Why didn't this kid just go find miss Morgan and leave him the fuck alone with Ava?

"Oh, hi Paige. You ok?" Apparently she was called miss Morgan here. She probably didn't want to use her real name in public.

"I'm good miss Morgan, I finished that book, from the German author, Momo."

"Did you like it?" He phased out after the word book and looked at Ava. She seemed really eager when she asked the girl the question.

"Yes, miss Morgan, very much."

"I think I know another book you would like, follow me." She said and walked off, the girl following her closely. He decided to stay behind, just looking at her. He didn't follow bitches around, never had, never would. She soon turned around the corner but he heard her talking to the kid.

Five minutes later he heard heals coming towards him. She halted about five feet from him.

"What book did you give her?"

She smiled at him, obviously knowing he really didn't give a shit. "The Glassblower's Children."

"When do you get off?"

"Four."

"I'll be at your house around four thirty." He didn't want to give her a chance to say no. She just kept smiling.

"Are you inviting yourself to dinner?"

"Yes." He walked away before she said anything else or before he jumped her among the bookshelves. She was fucking hot in those clothes.

-o0o-

At four thirty Ava heard the knock on her door, she was pretty sure it was him but still grabbed the bat and left the chain on when she opened the door.

"You better have the fucking gun in your hand." was all he said.

"Any chance you can hold off on the f-word for tonight?" Grace was already using more foul language than she should, and this biker used a lot of bad words. He rolled his eyes at her and she closed the door to unhook the chain. "I'm serious, Happy. She's like a sponge."

"Where's the gun?"

She put the bat next to the door and walked towards the kitchen. "In my wardrobe."

"Not doing much good there, is it?" He followed her and Grace come running from her room.

"Happy! Did you take your bike here?"

"Yes."

"Cool! What does 'Nomad' mean?"

Ava turned around and looked at Happy when Grace asked the question, she had been wondering as well.

"I means I don't belong to a specific charter."

"What?" Ava smiled at Grace's confused expression. She looked adorable. But she was glad she asked, Ava had no idea either what 'charter' meant, even if she could guess.

"We have... clubs in different cities, you usually belong to a specific city, I don't. That's what 'Nomad' means."

"Oh, so you just travel around?"

"Yes."

"How long will you be staying here?"

"I don't know."

"I hope you stay for a while." Grace said and turned to Ava. "Pancakes for dinner?"

"Yes."

"Pancakes for _dinner_?" Happy had a questioning smile on his lips, she liked those lips. Since his innuendo the day before she had thought about him, a lot. But she knew that it was one thing to think about him, and his lips. She would still choke if he touched her.

She had met one man since she left Jonah who she had been attracted to. She had tried, really tried, and he had been patient, to begin with. While he was still feeling like her savior. When he had seen her naked, he flinched, not for more than second and she saw how disgusted he became. Whenever he hugged her after that, he avoided to touch her back. She felt extremely uncomfortable and finally he gave up. She couldn't really blame him, she was kind of fed up with herself too. She hadn't even wanted to try since then. She didn't ever want to see that face again.

Happy didn't seem like a patient man, he looked like a man who was used to get what he wanted and when he wanted it. There was no point in even trying, it was better to just cut him off as soon as possible.

Grace was in the process of explaining why they called pancakes dinner. "Mom says she's a grown up and that means she can decide what's dinner. So pancakes are dinner, sometimes we have cheesecake for dinner, but not very often."

Ava was usually quite strict with the food, but now and then they were bad and had something like pancakes or junk food for dinner.

Happy looked up at Ava, she just shook her head. "She's delusional, she doesn't know what cheesecake is."

"Yes I do! I like raspberry cheesecake." Grace said and ran into the kitchen.

Happy sat down at the table and watched them as they made pancakes. Grace kept talking during the entire dinner, asking Happy questions about bikes and he answered. He slipped twice, using the f-word and both times Grace looked at him with big eyes and the looked over at Ava to see how she reacted.

Grace ran fo the her room after dinner and Happy went into the living room. A few seconds later he came back.

"Where's you TV?"

"There isn't one."

He looked at her in disbelief. "What?"

"We don't have one."

"Why?"

"I can't afford the TV and I can't afford to pay for the cable anyway."

"You could buy one on credit."

"No I can't. I only use cash." She smiled. "Besides, buying it on credit would only mean I paid more for the darn thing. I might be able to save some money every month but I don't feel the need to have one." She stopped being embarrassed about not having money years ago. It was just the way it was. Grace was used to it as well. She hardly ever asked for anything, she was thrilled when she got something and if Ava said there was something she couldn't afford, Grace accepted it. "Why don't you help me and dry the dishes instead."

He looked at her, laughed and then, to her surprise, he started to help her.

"You didn't think I would, did you?"

"No."

"I've helped my mom doing this loads of times."

The comment took her by surprise, she had a hard time seeing this man standing next to his mom, drying her dish. But he seemed to know what he was doing. Then again, it was hardly rocket science.

"Why are you here, Happy?"

"For dinner."

"You know what I mean."

He still wouldn't answer her question, just kept taking the dishes she was handing him and finally asked her a question instead.

"Why do you keep the gun in your closet?"

"You know why."

Happy looked at Ava, she had jeans, a gray tank top and black cardigan. She was still beautiful, not as stunning as she had been earlier that day, but beautiful.

They had coffee, talking about complete nonsense, he didn't want to talk seriously too her until Grace had gone to bed. A while later, Grace came out, climbed up into Ava's lap, and started to ask questions again. She was fucking unbelievable, she asked about bikes, engines, even tires.

When she started to yawn, Ava took her to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and came out to the kitchen.

"I'm going to read to her. It'll take a while, you can wait if you like."

"Ok." He was most definitely going to wait, there would be a serious talk about her gun.

He walked around in her apartment while he was waiting, in the living room he found pictures of her and Grace on the walls. Some of them were of Grace and some guy, he assumed it was her brother.

He looked into her bedroom. Her bed seemed to be a Queen size bed, there were wardrobes at opposite wall of the bed. She had a desk with a mirror above and there was some chick stuff on it. On the other side of the bed was a door leading to the balcony. He went outside and lit a smoke. While he was standing there she came out, bringing an ashtray.

"Can I bum a smoke?"

"You smoke?"

"It happens."

He gave her one and she sat down on a chair, feet on the seat and leaning her chin on her knees while smoking. They were both silent. He liked that about her, she never had the need to just talk and wasn't uncomfortable with silence. Most bitches was.

As they walked inside again he remembered why he was there to begin with.

"Gemma is having family dinner this sunday, she told me to ask you to come."

"Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"She doesn't even know me."

"Maybe she wants to get to know you?"

"You don't have to do this, Happy."

"Do what?"

"I'll be fine, there's no need for you to keep an eye on me."

"Doesn't change the fact that I'm gonna."

"I won't run, not yet at least."

"Still gonna keep an eye on ya."

"Why are you doing this?" She suddenly looked slightly upset.

"Maybe I want to get to know you better." Shit, this wasn't what he was going to talk about. He was going to tell her shit about not using the gun.

"You don't want to do this." She looked down on the floor, holding her arms around her stomach, he though about the long scar he had seen on the right side. He wasn't in the habit of letting women tell him what he wanted or didn't want. He wasn't about to change that habit now.

"What would you know about what I want?"

"Happy, you're not the first guy who tries to be my night in shining armor. It never works out." She definitely looked upset and almost pissed.

"What do you mean?"

"It's about as stupid as women thinking that they can change the bad guy." She smiled when she said it. "I don't want to be saved. And frankly, I doubt that you have the patience to deal with this mess."

This was starting to piss him off, she didn't know shit about him. "What would you know about my patience?"

"Not much. But that's not the point."

"Then what is the fucking point with this conversation?"

"I don't want to be saved, and you can't. You can't stick around all the time and there's no need too. You've done your due diligence. I'm not running, at least not now. You showed me how to use a gun - which was really nice of you by the way - but you don't have to do anything else. I'll be fine."

He wasn't fucking trying to be 'nice'. He was trying to make up for scaring her. Besides; Clay had told him to keep an eye on her and he did as his Prez told him. In this case it wasn't unwilling in any way but this bitch wasn't going to tell him what he could or couldn't do since this was club business. It might not have started out as it, but it sure as shit was now. At least that's what he told himself.

"I'm not fucking doing this to be 'nice'."

"Then why?"

"We keep Charming safe. You're in Charming, it's simple as that."

"Fine!" She glared at him. "Just keep in mind; I'm damaged goods and I'm not worth the trouble."

Happy walked up to her, slightly closer than he thought she was comfortable with. "I think I'll decide that myself." Then he smiled at her, he had noticed that when he did that, she blushed. Like she did just then. "I'll come by and pick you up on sunday, at six."

"I know where she lives, I can go there myself."

Stubborn bloody woman who kept questioning everything he fucking said.

"I'll come by and pick you up on sunday, at six."

She just rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll need to bring Grace."

"Gemma wouldn't have it any other way." She still looked a bit upset, and he decided to leave the talk about the gun for now. He'll get on her ass about it next time. "I'll see you on Sunday."

He started to walk towards the door and she followed him. They said goodbye, this time he didn't try to touch her.

-o0o-

In the middle of the night Ava was woken up when Grace climbed into the bed.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream again."

"Come here." Ava pulled Grace into her arms and carefully stroke her hair.

"It was dad. He came and said it was my fault."

"We talked about this, honey. You know it's not true." Ava hated this, when Grace had bad dreams they were almost always the same. Either Jonah beating Ava up or telling Grace it was her fault that he was looking for them.

"I know."

"Do you remember what I told you? What really happened." She carefully dried her cheeks.

"That he was mean to you and then you found out you were having me."

"And what did I do when I found out?"

"You left him, so he couldn't be mean to you or me anymore."

"So what did you really do, just by being inside me?"

"I saved you."

"See, you've done all you ever have to do." She carefully kissed her daughters forehead.

Ava was just grateful that Grace had never actually seen some of the worst things Jonah had done to her. So far, she had either been able to get Grace out of the way, or she had had been to young to remember anything. She intended to keep it that way.

On the other hand the counselors had said that in some ways it was even worse since Jonah was almost like a bogeyman to Grace, someone she was constantly afraid of and they were always running from. It was a balancing act and Ava wasn't sure if she handled it the right way.

She hoped that the counselor Grace was seeing could compensate for that and whatever else she fucked up.

She had found the counselor through one of the volunteer organizations for women on the run from abusive men. It turned out that she was a domestic abuse survivor so she let Grace – and probably a few other kids – see her for free and without any records being kept.

Those possibility were everywhere, seeing a doctor to get treatment, psychologist, almost anything you could need without any records of any kind being kept at the office. Most often they gave you the copies when the treatment was done. The things people did for free and the kindness of these people never seized to amaze Ava. She wished the official channels did their job half as good.

"I love you, mum." Grace said while yawning, she was obviously starting to relax.

"I love you too, baby girl. You know that." she kissed her again. "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"It's my birthday soon."

"Sure is. What do you want for your birthday?"

"A pink cake with a motorcycle on."

"Ok." That would be a tough one. She would have to start looking at bakeries because there was no way she could fix that by herself. "Anything else?"

"LEGO."

"Ok." She hugged her closer. "I'll see what I can come up with."

-o0o-

At about the same time Happy woke up and turned around to see a black haired Crow Eater in his bed. He shook her shoulder.

"Hey! Get out!" She mumbled something and turned her head to fall asleep again. As far as Happy was concerned that was not going to happened. He never let them stay in his bed but last night he had been so drunk that he fell asleep before he got her out of his room

"Hey! Get the fuck out of here!"

She woke up and when she turned around and saw him she almost flew out of the bed and the room, picking up her clothes along the way.

Happy took a quick shower and went back to bed to get a few more hours of sleep. Inevitably his mind got stuck on Ava. 'Knight in shining armor', it pissed him off just thinking about that conversation. What the fuck did she know about his patience?


	4. A pink cake?

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characteres._

_You people are all amazing. Thank you so much for the reviews, favs and alerts. I hope I've personally thanked all of you who reviewed it. If I didn't I'm really sorry. You all rock. I hope you like this chapter as well._

_Also, I accidentily upploaded this chapter twice (I was going to replace it and was in somewhat of a hurry). Once as chapter 5. That won't be up in a while so I'm sorry about that.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 4: A pink cake?**

Ava was standing in front her wardrobe. She had no idea how to dress for a dinner like this. Her work clothes were... work clothes. She finally just gave up and went to dress Grace instead, that was easier.

"Honey, what do you think about this?" It was a blue A-line dress with a white a Peter Pan collar.

"Yes!" She almost screamed, she loved that dress. She pulled out a pair of white cotton tights with blue butterflies on. "And these!"

"Great" Ava smiled, Grace was looking forward to the dinner, kept asking if there would be other children there. Ava had to admit that she had no idea.

She walked back to her own wardrobe and stared for a while, almost willing the stupid clothes to tell her what would work. She finally settled on a simple light gray fitted shirt, she put a white tank top underneath, she always had that. A pair of black jeans would have to work with it. Jeans was usually a safe bet.

There was a knock and standing by the door she waited for him to say it. "It's me!" Hi raspy very recognizable voice.

Opening the door she saw him looking at her empty hand with raised eyebrows, shaking his head.

"Well, I'm not going to walk around with it in my hand while she's awake."

"Happy!" She heard Grace behind her and she ran right past her and hugged his legs. The look on his face made her laugh and he glared at her.

"Come on honey, put on some shoes and then we'll leave."

They took her car to Gemma and Clay's house. When the door opened she took a step back out of pure surprise. There was loads of people, all of them staring at her until Gemma came took her arm and pulled her into the kitchen.

"It's nice of you to come." She smiled while they were walking.

"Thank you for inviting me." Ava was still stunned and started to look around for Grace. Something Gemma noticed and answered her unasked question.

"She ran off with the kids, they're all older than her, besides Abel. My grandson, he's just a baby."

Happy walked out on the porch with the others, grabbed a beer and sat down next to Tig, Bobby and Chibs.

"How's she doin'?" Chibs asked. Happy just shrugged, how the hell could he know.

"Still think she'll leave?" Bobby looked at her, standing in the kitchen, cutting vegetables.

"Don't think so."

He looked at her too, she still looked a bit freaked out. When Grace came running she picked her up with a smile, kissed her, then put her back on the floor and followed her holding her hand.

When she never came back to the kitchen he got up to go find her. She was in the couch with most of the kids around her. They were looking at a book and laughing with tears running down their face.

"Did you do this on my head? He asked the horse, who was grazing in the pasture. Me? No, how could I? I do it like this! And flump, plump – five big fat horsey apples plopped down within a hairs breath of the mole. He was very impressed."

The kids leaned down and looked into the book, "Look at his face!" Kenny screamed and they all laughed again, Ava included.

What the fuck was she reading? Jax was standing behind the couch, looking down into the book as well. Also laughing. When he saw Happy he dried his cheeks and came over.

"That is one fucked up book! A mole is walking around with shit on his head and the other animals are taking dumps to prove it wasn't theirs. She's read it like three times to them already."

Happy looked at her, this was the first time he had seen her completely comfortable that night.

"I had a talk to Jack about her." Jax said.

"What did he say?"

"Not much we didn't know, only one thing. Her brother works at a garage the sons use in New York. Called them up, they knew who he was, said he was good, but hadn't even heard he had a sister."

"Why not?"

"Didn't know much about him at all, he only works there. Not involved with the club." They walked outside and Jax lit a cigarette. "He also said that there were other people helping her."

"Who?"

"He wouldn't say. He probably doesn't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I talked to Tara about it. She said there's loads of people helping chicks like Ava."

"Doing what?"

"That's the thing, they help them to run, they can't really protect them. You know?"

"How the fuck does Tara know about these things?"

"She wouldn't tell me."

Happy looked at Jax. What the fuck was the use with helping people if you can't protect them? He couldn't really see the point in that. And he couldn't figure out why the fuck Jax let his Old Lady keep secrets from him. But that wasn't his problem.

Gemma called them all to dinner and they sat down, she was next to Grace who was talking to Bobby and Chibs about bikes and engines. Ava mostly talked to Tara and Gemma. She was doing good and he felt strangely proud. Her amber, golden eyes fell on him for a second and she smiled.

"Tapped her yet?" Tig looked at her while he asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Dude, she's probably a total mess after that asshole." Juice said. 'Damage gods', that's what she said to him, warning him that she wasn't worth the trouble. He looked at her again, sitting at the other side of the table, smiling. She didn't look like a mess, didn't mean she wasn't. And that didn't mean he wasn't going to try, taking it really slow though. He had a feeling she would be worth the trouble.

They went out on the porch again after dinner, discussing the new Aryan fuck who had opened a cigar shop on main street. The porn business who was working out well, they were all looking forward to the wrap party.

Suddenly he heard that husky voice from the door. "Hey." He stared into pure gold, "Grace has fallen asleep, I need to get her home. I don't know if you want to pick up your bike later..."

"Nah, I'll come with you." He said and got up. He didn't want her to go alone. "See you tomorrow." He said to the others who were giving him teasing smiles. Fuckers! Ava was inside, saying goodbye to the women. She picked up Grace from the couch and they walked out to the car.

When they arrived at her house he opened the door to the stairwell and at her door he extended his hand towards her.

"Give me your keys."

Ava was caught off guard and it took her a few seconds before she collected herself and fished the keys out of her bag and handed them over. After unlocking the door he held it open for her.

She walked into Grace room, put her in bed and pulled off her shoes and the tights, the dress would just have to stay on. With Grace tucked in under the cover she leaned over and gave her a kiss. Her beautiful girl! Sometimes if felt like she could just sit and watch her for hours. She stroke her cheek and kissed her once more and whispered into her ear.

"I love you baby girl." When she got up she noticed Happy, standing in the doorway to Grace's room, looking at her.

He backed out as and she shut the door behind her.

"I'm heading out."

"Ok." It was all she could think of saying.

"Just so you don't freak out, I'm going to kiss you, just on your lips and with no tongue." He said it with a slight smile. While she was trying to decide what to do and before she could come to any conclusion, he caressed her face and then gently pressed his mouth towards her. Just for a second or two, then he took a step back again. "Lock the door and get that fucking gun from you wardrobe." He said and then he was gone. She was still trying to catch her breath. She snapped out of it, locked the door but didn't get 'that fucking gun'.

When she was in bed she thought about the kiss, it felt nice. She fell asleep thinking that she wouldn't mind it happening again.

Happy walked into the clubhouse and looked around. There was no-one else there since the dinner at Gemma's wasn't over. He picked up a bottle from behind the bar and laid down on his bed to drink it.

The day after they were going to do a blood drive and a gun run. He would be away for the night and it didn't feel ok to leave her completely unprotected. Sure, some of them would stay behind but she wouldn't know who to call.

He remembered the kiss, from his point of view it was completely fucking useless. Her lips had been soft, sweet and she didn't dodge his kiss. But it was far from enough, it felt like he hadn't even done anything. And still, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

-o0o-

He needed to get ready for the blood drive. There was just one thing he needed to do first. Juice was in his room.

"Hey, Hap."

"Got one of those safe prepaid?"

"Lost yours?" he said with a smile, asshole knew why he wanted one. He didn't even bother to answer. "Here."

He handed him a box with a phone and a charger, when he got out of the room he programmed it with his number, sent a text to himself to get the number and then drove to the library. He found her, in a corner, wearing angel wings and a gloria, reading to a bunch of kids on the floor. She didn't notice him and he leaned against a bookshelf and just listened to her.

He wasn't that surprised anymore that Grace could read well. This woman loved books and she loved to read to kids. And judging by the giggles and gasps from the kids, she was good at it. When she got up and took of the wings and the gloria he noticed her dress, she was sexy as hell, as usual.

She saw him and smiled, held up a finger, showing him she'd be right there. He didn't mind, he could stand here looking at her for a while.

"Hi."

"Got you something."

"Ok." She looked surprised.

"It's a phone, my number is on it. I want you to call me if there's anything wrong and I want you to send a text when you get home and lock the door, everyday. If you don't do it, I'll come and bust down your door at eight a clock." She looked startled and then she started to laugh. "I'm not kidding."

"No, it's just..." She took the phone and smiled at him again. "Thank you, I guess."

"I'm going away, I'll be back tomorrow."

"Ok, who'll bust down my door if I don't text you today?" She said with a teasing smile

"Someone else. Keep it on."

"I work at a library, Happy, we don't allow mobile phones."

"Keep it on."

"I can't keep it with me all the time anyway."

"I'm not kidding Ava, keep the fucking phone on and if you've missed a call you call me the second you see it."

"You don't think this is a bit..."

"What?"

"Over the top?"

He walked up to her. Standing right in front of her, he looked down into those amber eyes, put his hand on her cheek and said, "No."

She didn't flinch this time, she didn't really look comfortable but she stood still and he leaned over and kissed her carefully and she responded. Then he stepped back.

"Ok, I'll keep it on, I'll text you when I get home and I'll call you if anything's wrong." She was looking at the phone when she said it.

"What's the number to the one you have?" She looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You're shitting me? You don't have a cell? Use it like your own and tell me when you're low on cash on it."

"It's ok, I just never thought they were safe. I can pay for it." Fucking hell, she was one stubborn bitch, all set to take care of herself.

"This one is safe. No one will be able to trace it. And I'm paying for it." He saw the look in her eyes. "Don't!"

"What?"

"You're thinking you can pay for it and not tell me."

"I'm not sure I like it when you do that."

"Don't care, still gonna do it." He liked that he could, that she couldn't hide anything from him.

"Be careful today." He nodded and walked out. He knew she was looking.

-o0o-

Ava was walking along Main Street when she saw Gemma in a car, she was smoking while staring towards one of the shops. She was just about to wave to her when she pulled a gun on a woman in a car. Ava gasped. What was it with these people and guns? They waved them around like other waved dollar bills.

She walked towards the car, in plain sight, she didn't want to scare her and get shot in the process. Gemma blinked and looked at her for a few seconds and then pointed at the passenger seat. Ava got into the car. Gemma had returned to staring at a shop. It looked like a cigar shop. She was quiet for a while and lit another cigarette. Finally she broke the silence, still not looking at Ava.

"You've been raped." It wasn't even a question. Ava had assumed that they had checked up on her, even if her trail would lead them nowhere, Jonah's wouldn't. The only thing she couldn't figure out was why Happy still... did... whatever it was he did. He had at least kissed her. Twice.

"Yes." She didn't see any point in hiding it, and she had a feeling she knew why Gemma asked. And that she knew why she was staring at the shop. This was probably the explanation to why she had even bothered with Ava to begin with.

"More than once?"

"Yes."

"How many times?"

"I don't know." The answer made Gemma finally tear her eyes from the shop and look at her.

"You don't know?"

"No." She had been with him for years. It wasn't like he beat her up every time they had sex, but she didn't really have the option to say no. She wasn't ever sure herself what that counted like. And even if she did know, there was just too many times to count.

"How do you deal with it?"

"No very well to be honest." She saw the horror in Gemma's face. "I've never actually dealt with, it was just my life for years, then I got pregnant and ran, my focus became Grace. I've just never..."

"...focused on yourself."

"Not just that." She was searching for an answer. "It wasn't something that happened to me and then I spent time trying to get back to my normal life. It was my life. I'm trying to figure out what a normal life is."

Gemma threw out the cigarette and suddenly a sheriff was in the car window. They talked for a while, they seemed to know each other quite well and to her surprise Gemma agreed to give him her gun.

"Did he really not understand that you have another gun?" That was the only explanation she could think of.

"His very... trusting." Gemma said as she roamed her bag and picked out another gun.

"Gemma, I'm not going to tell you what you should do."

"Then don't." It was a very decisive comment, but Ava needed to say this. She needed to at least try to get it into Gemma's head, even if it wouldn't make a difference yet.

"The only thing I was going to say is that you don't want to be like me."

"What's that? A good mother, a strong women who took life in her own hands, made a life for herself and her daughter." Ava was so surprised that she burst into a laughter. "What are you laughing at?"

"I was more thinking in the line of a woman who's opened the door with a bat in her hand for over six years, who's constantly scared, who's spent every penny on running away whenever it's been needed. Who hasn't had sex since the first time she was raped."

"I get your point." Gemma said.

"Good." Ava said. "I'm going to leave now, before you shoot someone. I need to find a place who can make a pink cake."

Gemma turned and looked at her. "A pink cake?"

"For Grace's birthday. She want a pink cake with a motorcycle on it." Gemma stared at her and then laughed.

"Your not going to tell me to talk to someone? To process it or some other shit."

"Nope." Ava knew better than that. "You know all that." She opened the car door.

"You haven't had sex since the first time you were raped?" Gemma asked with an unreadable expression in her face. It wasn't just horror, it was... pity, as well. Ava didn't like pity.

"I don't think you should worry too much about that. I'm not sure I've ever had what you would constitute as sex."

"Jesus!"

"Or I might have and just don't remember it." She added with a smile. "You know where to find me."

She got out of the car. There was no point in talking to someone who wasn't ready to talk, it wouldn't make any difference. Gemma didn't seem like the kind of woman who dwell on things either, she seemed like the kind of women who got even. Which probably wasn't a very good way to deal with a thing like this. But she wouldn't listen to Ava anyway.

"Hey!" she heard from the car and leaned over to see what she wanted. "Don't even think about telling anyone."

"Tell them what?"

"Don't even try with me." Gemma said and she was probably right. There was no fooling this woman.

"You haven't said anything. And I don't share suspicions." She said with a smile and Gemma nodded back.

-o0o-

It had been one fucked up day, fights, Tig getting caught by bounty hunters, but they were drinking, he had a blond in his lap and his brothers around him, so it was all good. Suddenly he felt his mobile vibrating and he picked it up, it was a message from Ava.

"_Door locked. I hate this thing."_

He laughed, pushed the blond out of his lap. "Don't move." He said and she just nodded. He walked away and called Ava.

"_Fucking phone! Hallo!"_

"What's wrong with the phone?"

"_Just... I don't know. Why are you calling?" _She always asked why he called or stopped by.

"Just wondering why you don't like the phone?"

"_Well, I can't hear you very well, that's one thing."_

"Turn up the volume on the side."

"_No shit, captain obvious." _Bitch, but he smiled anyway, he liked her like this.

"Where's the gun?"

"_In the hallway, that place you showed me."_

"You're lying."

"_You'll never now."_

"See you tomorrow." He hung up the phone before she questioned that. Stubborn hottie. Time to make sure that the blond hadn't moved.

* * *

_The book Ava is reading is "The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit." by Werner Holzwarth. It is absolutely amazing, make sure you chick it out._


	5. They said the f word

_Disclaimer: As always, don't own anything. _

_I managed to get this done a lot sooner than expected. And; It's a really long chapter and none of it was in the first draft. I have no idea how that happened but it might be the explanation to the current lack of coffee in our house. Pretty soon I will be back on track with the second season and other characters from the series will show up. But for now, it's mostly Ava, Happy and Grace._

_Thank you again for awesome reviews. I hope I've managed to thank everyone properly, if not. I'm really sorry. Just know that I love them, just as I love the favs and alerts._

* * *

**Chapter 5 : They said the f-word**

It was Grace's sixth birthday and loads of kids were running around inside Jack's café. Happy had turned up which surprised Ava. It probably shouldn't have since he kept coming around, quite often and Grace had invited him to her birthday party. Still... seeing him - even if he was mainly in the corner - at a kids birthday party was, bizarre. It was the only word Ava could think of, bizarre.

The pink cake with the motorcycle on was on the table and the kids were all eating. Suddenly Happy was standing just behind her.

"So, who's Peter Worthington?" Happy said in a low voice. Ava looked at him curiously and pointed at a blond boy sitting next to Grace.

"Why?"

"Wanted to see the guy who ate a worm to impress a girl."

"What?"

"She said that, when we picked her up after shooting practice."

"I remember that. Why do you think he did it to impress a girl?"

"Why else would a guy eat a worm?" He said and looked at her with that crocked smile.

"You guys are weird." Ava laughed. "No girl would be impressed with that."

"Well, he's got the seat next to her." Happy said and gave her one of those big smiles that made her blush. Then she turned around and looked at the boy sitting next to Grace, looking utterly happy.

"You bought her a helmet."

"I know."

"Of course you do. I was mostly wondering why you did that."

"She's wants me to take her for a ride."

Ava turned around again and looked at him with huge eyes. There was too much with that statement that was disturbing. Grace, on a bike. "Say what?"

"She'd be fine, it wouldn't be far, just a couple of blocks."

"Slowly."

"Very." He said. Ava turned around again. Grace had been on a bike, but that had been with Clark, her brother and a very short ride. She knew that she would love it, it was the only thing she had been talking about for a while. How much she wanted to ride a bike.

She looked back at Happy. "Please, take care of her."

"I will." He put his hand on her arm and leaned over, very close to her ear. "Don't worry so much, Ava. She'll be fine and she'll love it." He hardly ever used her name. She liked it when he did. And then she felt like a pathetic lovesick teenager for even noticing it.

"Ok." He better not make her regret this!

-o0o-

That was the start of those rides that completely freaked her out. Grace loved them and Ava kept pacing back and forth until they came back. The rides got longer and longer, and after a couple of weeks they were usually gone for at least two hours and Grace came home with the biggest smile on her face. She loved it and Ava was freaking out.

"You said you would only take her on short rides. Around the block."

"They're not long."

"Then why does it take so long?"

"We talk. I show her other bikes. She tells me about her friends. She was quite impressed with Peter eating that worm, by the way." He had a very cunning smile. "Girls like the bad boys."

"What?"

He smiled and walked up very close to her. "I would never let her get hurt."

"She said you had been to see Gemma."

"Yes."

"Where?"

"I take her to the garage, she watch me or one of the others work. She said Clark used to let her watch and that she liked it."

Happy watched Ava closely, he had never been able to stand this close to her for this long without her twitching. He knew that the main reason it was working was that this time was that she was worried about Grace. It was probably not something a gentlemen would take advantage of, but he really didn't give a shit. He wasn't a gentleman.

"The garage?" And that's when she noticed how close he was, but she didn't step back, she just stared and very slowly he put his arm around her waist. He leaned over her and pressed his mouth to hers. This wasn't enough, not by far, but at least he was holding her this time. He tasted her and she still didn't protest.

"Don't worry." He said when he let go of her lips but he was still holding her.

"Are you kissing me so I would stop worrying?" She looked amused and pissed at the same time.

"No, more; sneaked up on you while you were worrying."

"That's low, Happy." But she was laughing. "I was planning on making you stop to come her. It's not really working out."

"No. But you don't want me to not come here." He knew that for certain. He always know what she really wanted.

"No."

He gave her another kiss and then he left.

-o0o-

He called her at least once a day. She forgot to text him one night and at eight o' clock he was banging her door. When she opened it he just looked at her, "Next time I'll just kick it in."

"Ok ok ok, Sorry I forgot."

"Don't forget again."

"Want a beer, or coffee?"

They spent the evening on the balcony, drinking beer and smoking. When he left he kissed her, he always did.

"I might forget to text you more often."

"Just text me to come over, it'll save you a door."

"Ok."

She was starting to really look forward to the kisses and he kept coming by.

-o0o-

It all reminded Happy about the first girl he managed to fuck, it had taken a really long time and he had jerked off more than ever. At least he wasn't stuck to jerking off this time around. He picked up the phone.

"_Happy, I can't talk right now but everything is ok."_ Was the first thing she said when she answered the phone.

"What? Why?"

"_I just can't. I'm fine, the door is locked. I have to go."_

"Hey! What's wrong." He was getting pissed. Was she blowing him off? She sounded strange.

"_It's nothing. It's got nothing to do with you. Please, I'm fine."_

"No, you're not fine. What's going on?" Happy was trying to figure out what the fuck was up with her. She didn't sound scared, it was something else.

"_Happy. It's nothing, this is none of you business and I can't deal with you right now. I just need some time to myself."_ Now she sounded pissed. What the fuck was going on?

"None of my business?" He repeated, that did it for him. What did that mean? Was she seeing some other guy or what the fuck was this about?

"_Yes, believe it or not Happy, not everything is your business. I'm hanging up now." _And she fucking did!

He got out of his room, walked through the bar and was on the bike in less than two minutes. There was no fucking way that she could talk to him like that and think he'd leave her alone.

He knocked on her door. "It's me! Open the fucking door." She did, looking very pissed.

"What?"

"What the fuck was that about?" He said while walking inside.

"Jesus Christ, Happy!" She said and walked into the kitchen. She looked very upset and he didn't think it was at all because of him.

"Just fucking tell me."

"What are you? My shrink?" She said with a snort.

He got up really close to her, forcing her to look at him which she had been avoiding to do since he stepped through the door. "Tell me."

"I had a fight with Grace, ok? Nothing else." She said and turned her eyes back to the floor.

Happy started at her. What the fuck was that about? "So?"

"I lost it, she was getting on my nerves and I... couldn't handle it."

He was trying to figure out what that meant. His mom lost it sometimes, quiet often to be honest, sometimes she slapped him but he very much doubted that Ava had ever laid a hand on Grace.

"What, you yelled at her?"

"No, I can't yell. But I just... I don't want to talk about it. I just wasn't very balanced. And I'm ashamed, ok?" She rubbed her eyes and turned away from him, walking out to the living room.

He went after her. "Can't yell?"

"Long story." She said and sat down in the couch and rested her head in her hands. He turned around went into the hallway and carefully opened Grace's door. She was sleeping so he closed it again and walked back into the living room.

"She's sleeping."

"I know."

"Still don't get it." He sat down next to her. "She seems fine."

"I lost it, Happy."

"Happens to everyone." He still couldn't figure out why she was freaking out about this. Unless she actually did slap her. "Did you slap her?" The look Ava gave him answered that question. "Didn't think so."

"I would never do that."

"Like I said, didn't think so."

"How could you even ask that?" Great, now she was even more pissed.

"Just fucking trying to figure out why you're freaking out about this."

"This is why I needed some time alone. I just need to freak out about it by myself and I'll be back to normal tomorrow."

"You can't be the perfect fucking mom the entire time."

"No, would be nice to be it now and then though."

Was she for fucking real? "Hey! You are. Fuck, I can't figure you out sometimes." This wasn't going anywhere. She was going to pity herself no matter what he said. "Tell me about the screaming."

She looked tired but she seemed pleased to talk about something else. "A nerve in my throat is damaged. Partially paralyzing my vocal chords, or something like that. That's why my voice is hoarse and I can't really scream. I can, kind of, but I can't sing. It's very hard to scream. I don't know, I don't try very often to be honest."

"How did that happen?"

"Blunt force trauma to the neck." She wasn't looking at him when she said it and he didn't need to know anymore. He got it, that fuck did it to her.

"I like it." He said with a smile and she raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "The voice."

"Ok." She got up from the couch. "Any chance you'll let me sulk alone now?"

"Fine. I'm taking her for a ride tomorrow." That should cheer her up.

"Thanks, Happy. She'll like that." She followed him to the hallway.

He put his arm around her waist, this mood could either help or fuck her up completely. He carefully pressed his mouth against hers. No protests, and when he carefully sucked on her lower lip she put her arms around his neck. This was very good. Have a go when she's sulking, he made a mental note about that.

He needed more and opened his mouth and licked her lips and she opened her mouth. Jesus fucking Christ, if it took him this long to even kiss her properly he would probably be impotent before getting any from her. But she was responding and he pulled her closer. When she silently moaned he had to keep himself from smiling. Instead he moved her around and pressed her against the bathroom door, still kissing her.

Happy had a hard-on from hell. Knowing that this wouldn't get him any only made it worse. But she still wasn't protesting and he was going to keep this up until she did. He moved his hands to her hips, pressing his entire body against hers and searched her entire mouth with his tongue, tasted her, circled her tongue and sucked those amazing fucking lips.

It was going great until he slipped his hand underneath her t-shirt to stroke her skin. She chocked and went completely stiff. FUCK! He thought to himself but he stopped but was still pressing her to the door. He leaned his forehead against hers and after a while she finally relaxed.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled. He wasn't sure what to say and just gave her a kiss and moved back.

"Don't worry about it." He said. "Lock the door."

She had a tired, embarrassed face and nodded to him. He caught her and gave her another kiss. "I said; don't worry about it. I'll call you tomorrow."

Ava leaned her head against the door after Happy had left. Great, now she felt bad about loosing it with Grace and for completely choking up with Happy. This was just the best day, ever.

She decided that she needed a bath and filled the tub with loads of bubbles. Lying in the bath, finally starting to relax she relived the moment with Happy. She had liked it, a lot, until he got underneath her t-shirt and the only thing she could think about was her back. He had held out longer than she had expected but this had to start to get to him. It was even getting to her. Not in the usual 'I need to do something or he'll be pissed'-way. More, the 'I need some'-way. Which was really nice.

She shaved her legs, washed her hair, even did a hair mask and facial mask. Taking a batch was her favorite luxury. It had been a while since she lived in an apartment where she had a bathtub. When the bubbles had disappeared she took a quick shower and got out.

Standing in front of the mirror she turned around and watched her back in the mirror. She hardly ever looked at it herself but she did this time. It didn't look good, there was some in the front as well. She sighed. She didn't really think he would agree to sex with clothes on.

-o0o-

Happy rode all the way back to the clubhouse with a solid hard-on. He walked inside a waved to the first Crow Eater he saw, grabbed her arm and took her to his room.

"On the bed on all four." He said while opening his pants and putting on the condom.

He didn't even bother to make sure she was ready, just grabbed her hips and started to fuck her. A few minutes into it he noticed that she was blond. That made him halt for a second, then he just closed his eyes and remembered what her mouth tasted like, her tongue in his mouth and he grabbed the hips, did a few hard thrusts and then he came.

A few seconds later he opened his eyes and pulled out. He didn't even look at her, just took of the condom and nodded to the door. "Get out."

She put on her panties and then did as he had told her. Searching his room he realized he didn't have anything to drink so he went out to the bar. Tig and Bobby was leaning against the counter and watched him come over.

"Giving you a case of blue balls?" Tig asked with a smirk.

He didn't answer.

"Think she'd be worth it?" Bobby asked.

Happy thought about the kisses, those perfect fucking tits against his chest. She would be, but he just shrugged. "She better be." Tig laughed.

"How's Baby Girl?" Bobby asked.

"Sleeping. I'll take her here tomorrow."

"Good, girl needs to learn to appreciate Ape Hangers." Bobby said and Happy just shook his head. She would never do that.

-o0o-

Ava and Grace were having breakfast.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, Grace."

"I know." She said, dangling her feet while chewing her scone. "I'm sorry too."

"Thank you, honey." She gave her a kiss on the head and smelled her hair. "Happy might take you for a ride today."

"When?" Grace said with a huge smile.

"I don't know, he said he'd call."

"Can I call him and ask?"

"Later honey, it's pretty early yet." Ava didn't think Happy'd be up at eight on a Sunday.

She did the dishes and started to clean the rest of the apartment. While she collected dirty clothes to take to the laundromat, her phone rang.

"Hallo?"

"_Hi, it's me. I'll pick up Grace in about thirty."_

"Ok. I'll make sure she's finished."

Thirty minutes later he was in her hallway.

"What's with the clothes?" He said, looking at the bags standing in the hallway.

"I thought I'd do some washing while you're away. Grace thinks it's one of the most boring things in the world to hang out in a laundromat." She said while putting on her shoes. "It's down the street, you can drop her off there when you're done."

"You don't have a washing machine?"

"Have you seen one in my bathroom?" She asked and then laughed when he opened the door and looked inside the bathroom.

She picked up a book, put it along with her keys in her backpack and took the bags of clothes.

"Give me one." He said and reached for a bag. "Are you coming, Sugar?"

"Yes!" Grace yelled and came running with her helmet.

She loaded the clothes into the trunk and heard Happy mutter behind her. "This is wrong."

"What is?"

"Having the engine in the back and the trunk in the front."

"I love it." She said and slammed it shut. "No knocking my car."

"It's not right." He was still looking at the trunk and she laughed. Turning his gaze to her he asked; "Got the phone?"

"Yes, just give me a call when you're done."

She gave Grace a kiss and then got into the car. As she drove off she saw Happy putting her helmet on.

-o0o-

Happy and Grace were sitting next to each other on a bench, she was eating an ice cream and he was smoking.

"Did you and mom fight yesterday?" He just wanted to make sure she was ok.

"Yes."

"You two ok?"

"Yes." She said and shrugged. "She made me scones for breakfast and said she was sorry. Then I said I was sorry. She said it yesterday as well after reading to me, twice."

Happy smiled, it was a lot easier when you were a kid. If you said sorry and meant it, that was it. Add something sweet and it was the definitive end of it. He looked at her feet dangling from the edge of the bench. It was like they could never be still. She never _walked, _she ran and even when sitting down, her legs moved.

"Happy, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." This could be anything, he just hoped it wasn't about Ava.

"Why do you have tattoos?"

This was questions he was comfortable with, unlike the questions she had about Ava. Like when she asked what he thought about her mom's hair. "I like them."

"Do you have them everywhere?"

"Yes."

"On your legs too?"

"Yes." He was wondering where she was going with this. It didn't necessarily had to go anywhere, she asked questions the entire fucking time. He liked it.

"How old were you when you did you first?"

"Fifteen." This _was_ going somewhere her realized. This would kill Ava, he thought with a smile.

"Oh." She seemed to think about that for a while. "I'm just six."

"I don't think your mom would like it if you did a tattoo, Sugar." He had started to call her that a while ago, she seemed to like it. He did too. "They don't come off."

"Oh." She kept licking on her ice cream for a while. "Are there girls with tattoos?"

"Yes. Gemma has one. That crow, in her... eh... on her chest." He almost said cleavage, probably not the best explanation to give to a kid. She would either know what it meant, or worse; not know and ask him what it was.

He was still getting used to it. How to talk to her and avoid the words fuck and shit. He was getting better at that.

"I want one, when I get older." She had the decisive look. "Do you draw them, with pens?"

"No, with needles."

Her eyes got big. "Does it bleed?"

"Yes."

Even bigger eyes. "Does it hurt?"

"A little." He couldn't stop the smile on his face. She looked away for a while and then she got the decisive look again.

"I still want one."

"I'll could draw one on you, with a pen."

"Can you draw?"

"Yes, and make tattoos." She looked at him for a while and got a very cunning look and he laughed. "Forget it, kid, I'm not going to tattoo you, not in years. But I can paint you."

She jumped down from the bench to go and throw away the paper from the ice cream. "I guess that would have to do." She said in her most precocious voice. He laughed and got up as well.

"Come on, I'll take you to the garage. Bobby wants to see you and I'll make a drawing on you."

"I want a princess on a bike." She said while putting on her helmet.

"Well, I've never done that." He shook his head. "I'll do my best."

-o0o-

Ava was still at the laundromat, reading, when she heard a bike outside. Grace came running inside.

"Look, look, look. Happy did this."

She shoved her arm about one inch from Ava's face. "Wow! Honey, not that close. Let me see." Then she laughed. "A princess on a bike?"

"Yes." Grace looked at it and smiled. "And I got these." She searched her pocked and picked up four quarters. "One is from Happy, one from Bobby and two from Tig."

"What, why?"

"They said the f-word." She whispered.

Ava looked at Happy and started to laugh. "You give her a quarter when you say the f-word?"

"She said it was the rule at home." He shrugged.

"It is, but we _never_ say it." Grace said and put the money back into her pocket. "I told them I get a dime for every s-word at home too, but they said that wasn't going to happen. They say that _a lot_." She said the last part with big eyes.

"I'm guessing she could make a fortune at the garage." She gave Grace a kiss.

"I'm saving to my own Harley." Grace sat down on the chair next to Ava.

"Sounds like a plan, honey. I just need to empty the last dryer and the we can go home." She got up and walked over to the dryer. "You don't have to wait." She said to Happy who was still standing at the door. He shrugged but didn't move.

He watched her fold the clothes and then helped to carry them out to the car. When Grace was strapped into the seat she closed the door and when she turned around Happy was just behind her. He pressed against the car with that damn smile of his on his lips. He kissed her, not like the night before, but he sucked her lip and she opened her mouth to accept his tongue. She had to admit it to herself. She really liked this. A lot.

"I need to fix some things, I'll come by later."

"Ok." She smiled, her legs were almost shaking.

He gave her a final kiss and then he left.

-o0o-

There was a loud knock on the door. More like a kick.

"It's me!"

She opened the door and stared at Happy, holding a TV in his arms.

"That's a TV." She said, probably sounding as confused as she felt.

"I know."

"Ok, let me rephrase that. Why are you carrying a TV?"

"I don't read." He said and walked past her into the apartment. She stood still for a while and then followed him.

"What?" It was like he had a limited number of words everyday and was afraid to use them up. It sometimes made her extremely annoyed, would it be so bloody hard to explain things once in a while?

"You always read and I've tried reading magazines and shit while you're reading. I don't like it."

"You can't just buy me stuff, Happy."

"Why not?"

"W-w-what? Because you can't!"

"I just did. Well, actually I got it from Jax, he bought a new one."

"My God! You are hopeless!"

Grace came out of her room. "Oh, a TV!"

"I'll set it up for you." Happy said with a smile.

Ava sighed. God damn stubborn bastard. She started to sort her clothes into the closet and then continued with Grace's. She heard Grace talking to Happy in the living room, at the moment they were discussing Sesame Street. Apparently Happy liked that. She shook her head, she hadn't seen that one coming.

Then Grace started to sing the song for Sesame Street, she looked into the living room and saw her dancing around Happy.

"Why aren't you singing along?" She said with a big smile. He just glared at her.

"Yes! Sing along, Happy!" Grace yelled and started the song from the beginning.

He just shook his head. "I don't sing, Sugar. Ever." He was still glaring at Ava.

She cleaned up the kitchen and the hallway. Finally she did Grace's room as well and vacuumed most of the place. She heard voices from the TV, apparently it was working. Annoying man!

She looked at the watch and then went out into the living room. She hoped Grace wasn't to attached to the TV, she didn't want to fight again and it was soon time for bed.

"Come on, I'll give you your bath." Happy looked up at her with raised eyebrows and a crocked smile. She just rolled her eyes, she kind of deserved that.

"Ok." Grace said and ran to the bathroom.

-o0o-

Happy was listening to Ava and Grace who were in the bathroom, the light voice with laughter that made him smile and the husky voice that made his crouch ache. How fucking gay was that?

He couldn't help himself when she said that thing about the bath. At least she didn't seem uncomfortable with his look. She just rolled her eyes. And she had it coming. 'Why aren't you singing along?' Teasing bitch.

It might have started as him being turned on by her, but this was something else, he wanted her, but not just to fuck. He wanted to know everything about her, what she liked, what she was like when she grew up, about her brother and why she hardly ever talked to him.

He felt confused, he had never wanted a woman in this way. In some ways he didn't like it, at all. But the thought of someone else being there pissed him off even more. She was warming up, he could touch her and there was no fucking way he had gotten her this far to let someone else take advantage of it.

When they came out of the bathroom Grace was in her nightgown, Ava put her standing on a chair and started rubbing her hair with a towel while Grace was singing along to the song that was playing on the small cd-player on the counter.

And Grace. He didn't wont some other fuck to come along and be her 'favorite biker in the world'. That's what she called him sometimes. It was only fair. She was his favorite kid in the world. He never thought he would find a kid he actually liked. But Grace was something else, smart as fuck, just like her mom. An angelface, also like her mom, and tough as nails. Not even mentioning all the shit she knew about bikes.

The guys had teased him about her, that he took her out on rides, brought her around the garage and let her watch him work. But pretty soon they all loved to have her there. Gemma especially, she liked to have a girl she could braid and buy pink shit too. The pink napkins didn't come off well with the guys. She had defended it as being for Grace, who loved them.

"Dance with me mommy." Grace said and reached for her. Ava picked up and they started to dance around the kitchen.

He couldn't stop looking at her, holding Grace, smiling, her moving hips. She was killing him. When the song was over she kissed Grace and put her down on the floor.

"You need to got to bed, honey."

"Ok." She ran up to him, gave him a hug. "Good night, Happy."

"Good night, Sugar." She ran off to bed, Ava followed to read her a story. He walked into the living room and turned on the TV. He needed to get the cable installed, at least she had a dvd.

She came out after a while. "A dvd as well?"

"Yes."

"That actually makes it more ok." She sat down in the couch next to him. "I can rent old classics and watch. And chick flicks."

He flinched. What the hell! "It doesn't work with chick flicks." She laughed in that great husky way and he just had to know. "You voice, is it always going to be like that?"

"Yes, I've trained it as much as possible. This is as good as it gets."

He probably shouldn't be happy about a thing like that. But he was. He liked her voice.

"It's very classic, your names, both of them."

Ava had noticed that he kept asking questions and he still answered very few of hers.

"My mom loved the movie Mogambo so when she had my brother, she named him after Clark Gable, and when I was born she named me after Ava Gardner."

"And Grace?"

"Grace Kelly. She's in the movie as well. I did it for my mother." Her mom had always said that if she had another girl, she would call her Grace. So when she had a girl, picking name had been easy.

"Why don't you speak to your brother more often?"

"It's not safe. Jonah has a lot of friends, some of them with the possibility to control incoming calls to a phone." She didn't feel the need to explain any further. He probably knew more about that stuff than she did.

"Use the cell I gave you. It can't be traced."

"It would still show where the call was made from."

"It's safe. Don't worry." He turned hes focus back to the TV, he was quiet for a while and then continued. "So how much of a chick flick is Mogambo?"

"What do you think? Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly in the same movie. It's romance, betrayal and in the end a woman throw herself from a boat to get to the man she just left because she realizes that she does actually love him. It's very romantic." She loved the movie as well. And with a dvd she would definitely get a copy of it as soon as possible. It had been some time since she saw it.

He shook his head. "So which one of the chicks gets Clark Gable?"

"Well, both of them in a way, even though one of them is married. But he ends up getting shot for it." That should get his attention, she thought to herself. She might actually lure him into seeing it if she played her cards right. She would love to see him see it. He would probably hate it.

"By the husband?"

"No."

"Then who swims to him in the end?"

She knew she had him now. "You'll have see the movie."

"Won't happen."

"They you'll never know." She smiled and he gave her a look.

"I don't watch chick flicks."

"I never said you did."

Happy contained a smile. Teasing as always, yet he liked her more like this than nagging about the things he did for her or bought her. He would probably end up watching that stupid movie anyway. He was such a pussy.

"I need to get going." He said and got up. "I'll have someone install the cable."

"No! No cable. I can't afford it."

"You're not paying for it."

"Happy, please."

He pulled her closer and silenced her with a kiss, a very thorough kiss. It was getting better. At least it didn't feel completely pointless anymore. But he had a serious case of blue balls and the Crow Eaters was rapidly becoming a very temporary solution. They weren't enough either.

He let go of her mouth and whispered into her ear. "Will you watch TV?"

"Probably not." She mumbled and her voice was huskier than usual. He smiled, she was turned on. He reached back and grabbed her ass and was extremely fucking pleased to hear a slight moan slip out between her lip.

"I will, so I'm paying for it." He sucked her earlobe. She pressed herself against him. Definitely very turned on. This was great. A few more days of this and she would be fucking begging him for it. "Lock up." He said.

She put her arms around his neck pulled him down and he felt her kissing his jawline and then those lips were stroking his ear and she whispered. "I'm not getting the fucking gun though."

He hadn't been that close to coming in his pants since he was a fucking teenager. He grabbed her ass firmer to lift her up and kissed her again while walking her into the hallway.

He had some rules about women, he never _asked,_ he either just nodded at them or they fucking begged him. She would have to beg him. So, he was going to go back to the clubhouse, get a blowjob from some black haired bitch and then go to sleep.

He pulled her even closer and she moaned into his mouth again. This was fucking awesome. "I'll see you tomorrow." He said and gave her a final kiss before putting her down on the floor. She should at least suffer a while, considering how long he had waited.

"Ok." Her cheeks were flushed, he could see that even in the dim light of the hallway. He managed to contain his chuckles and opened the door. He gave her a smile and then closed the door. He waited until he heard her lock the door and then went back to the clubhouse while wondering how much of a pussy he was for this. Spending time with a bitch and her not giving it up. And he still stuck around, probably a major pussy. At the moment, he didn't give a shit. She was about to crack.

When he came to the clubhouse he did exactly as he had planned. It didn't take long and he sent her out before taking a shower and going to bed. He smiled as he laid on his back. It was so close.

Ava was hyperventilating while she locked the door. If it hadn't been for the state of her back she wouldn't have let him go. Then she smiled to herself. This was what horny was like. It sucked but was good at the same time. She would have to tell him about stuff she would prefer not telling him. If she didn't she would never be able to take her clothes off. She would just haft to cross her fingers and hope that he didn't got up and leave when she'd told him.


	6. What is it you think I want?

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything Sons of Anarchy. Kurt Sutter does_

_Thank you so much for your reviews, favs and alerts, they keep me going._

_I managed to uppload this to "Eight Simple Never's" at first. Really sorry about that. That would be the reason why you don't do stuff like this at work.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 6: What is it you think I want? **

Major pussy, that's what he was, cause he was now in her fucking couch, watching that movie. Mogambo. It sucked and every once in a while she looked at him and laughed.

"You hate it."

"Those shorts ain't right." He was looking at the shorts the, apparently, hot dude was wearing. Happy was a firm believer of the fact that no grown man should wear shorts. This guy was wearing shorts and knee socks. Made him look like Hitler, that was just wrong.

"We can turn it off."

"Who jumped from the boat?"

"Why do you even care?"

"I wanna know if he gets the brunette or the blond."

She wouldn't tell him and he ended up watching the entire shit movie. He did leave her scarlet red and panting in the hallway as well, so it was worth it.

-o0o-

The next morning Ava was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth. She needed to tell him, talk to him and... do what? Say 'sorry, got some bad scaring on my back, could you please pretend to not be disgusted when you see it?' She had to tell him, she couldn't just pull of her clothes and pretend like it was nothing.

She kicked the bathtub in frustration and rinsed her mouth.

"What did you do, mom?" Grace leaned into the bathroom and asked.

"Nothing, honey. I hit my foot in the bathtub."

"Oh, ok." Grace looked at her for a few moments. "Are you angry?"

"There's just no lying to you, is there? Or am I a terrible liar?" She smiled and sat down on the floor. It could be a combination, Grace knew when people were honest. And obviously Ava wasn't much of a liar. Happy could even see when she was planning on deceiving him.

Grace came up and sat down in her lap and she put her arm around her. "Happy says it's because you're a good person, they're worse at lying cause they feel bad about it."

"Did he now?" Just the man she didn't want to talk about, seems like his on both their minds the entire bloody time, invading every part of their life. "I'm not angry honey, only frustrated and it's got nothing to do with you."

"Ok." Grace put her arms around Ava's neck.

"We need to get done. I've got work and you've got school." She squeezed her tighter for a few seconds. "Mary is picking you up and are taking you too Laura today and I'll pick you up form there. Ok?"

"Ok." Grace gave her a kiss. "I love you, mom."

"Good. Love you too."

They picked up their stuff and about half an hour later Ava was at the library, getting ready to open up.

-o0o-

Happy was lying on the bed, trying to figure out what the problem was. The woman was about to burst, just as he was and she still didn't even try to stop him when he left. He had decided to do this at her speed, but they weren't on her speed any more. They weren't at any fucking speed what so ever, they were treading water and at the worst fucking point.

He wasn't a teenager, he wasn't going to snap and do something she didn't want to but that didn't mean that he wasn't getting really damn frustrated with the situation. She needed to tell him what the actual problem was, cause it wasn't that she didn't want him. If you rub yourself against someone the way she had done the last couple of night, you wanted them. Bad.

He sighed, got up and went out to the bar.

"Coffee?" Bobby asked and held up a cup.

"Yeah."

He drank coffee, ate some muffins and got out into the garage and worked a couple of hours to try to keep his mind on something. Then he decided that she probably needed lunch as well and got on the bike.

"I'm going out for lunch, be back soon." He yelled to Clay who only waved at him.

He walked up the stairs to the where she usually was and halted when he saw Hale sitting at a table. And he was talking to Ava. What the fuck was this about? He moved behind some bookshelves and towards their direction.

-o0o-

Hale came to see her at the library. He had been one of the kindest cops she had dealt with over the years. Genuine concern and when she had taken a chance and told him about the problems with insurance on cars and being hidden. He smiled at her and simply said that the police in charming was overlooking far worse things than drivers without insurance. At least he was not doing his job for a good cause.

She smiled at him when he came walking. "Deputy Chief Hale. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Please, David or Hale is enough." He smiled. "Just some small things, nothing really important but I had to return my library books anyway."

"Did you return them in time?"

"No, but I did pay the fine like a good citizen." Ava laughed at the fact that he did look slightly embarrassed and he knew why she laughed. "I'm sorry, bad memories about one of the librarians who used to work here."

"Oh, we all have one of those librarians in our childhood." She laughed then she realized. "Oh my god! I could be the future horror librarian for some kids."

"I very much doubt that." Dave gave her a reassuring smile.

"Give me a couple of years of bitterness about kids who don't treat the books with respect." She moved towards a table and sat down. Hale sat down in front of her. "So why did you want to see me?"

"I talked to the San Francisco PD yesterday. They're not really keeping an eye on him but they had seen him."

"Ok."

"They said he seemed calm, he's working and he was not drunk or stoned."

"Well... I guess that's good."

"He's still seeing his parole officer from the drug charges." Hale was eying her.

"I know what you're about to say. They want me to come back and testify, let them charge him with assault or something else."

"Yes. You should do that."

"It's not going to work. I've tried, once and I'm not putting myself through that again. I have Grace now as well."

"You do realize that the he could sue you for custody?" Hale said.

"He won't. He doesn't care about her. He probably doesn't even think that she's his."

"You let me know if you need anything, ok?"

"Ok."

"I couldn't help to notice that you are... involved with the Sons."

She sighed. Involved, she couldn't even take of her clothes in front of him. Oh, wait, he probably didn't mean 'involved' that way. She looked at him. "Ehrm, well..."

"It's none of my business what you do, but be careful. They... mess up a lot of things but they won't hurt you, that's not what I mean." The last part was probably a reaction to her staring at him. "Just... don't get in over your head." He said and got up.

She stood up in front of him. "Thank you, David. For everything, you're one of the good guys and I'm glad you're the first cop I ran into here."

"Just doing my job."

"Well, you can 'just do your job' in a lot worse ways. Trust me, I've been dealing with quite a few of you over the years."

"Thanks. Take care and I'll let you know if I hear anything." He said and walked away.

-o0o-

Happy was still standing behind the bookshelf and heard Hale leaving. Was she flirting with him? Would she admit to have talked to him? He waited a few minutes and then went to find her. She smiled when she saw him.

"Hi, borrowing a book?"

"I don't read."

"I've noticed." she was still smiling and she went up to him to give him a hug. She had a skirt again and a dark red shirt. She was sexy as hell, again.

"I saw Hale."

"Yeah." She looked up at him, still holding her arms around his waist.

"What did he want?"

"Nothing important really. He's in contact with the cops in San Francisco. He just wanted me to know that things seemed to be calm."

"Is he you own private investigator?"

"No. The first week I was here I went to talk to the cops. I met him and he seemed decent. I told him about stuff. That I don't have an insurance, that Grace needs to go to school in a different name. That I don't officially live here and... stuff, the situation." She was eying him now. "He's been a great help. One of the best cops I've dealt with."

That pissed him off. "Did he ask about me?"

"He didn't ask. He told me to be careful. Got the feeling he doesn't like the Sons."

"He doesn't. Tell me if he asks about us."

"Ok." She wasn't smiling anymore and she let go of him and took a step back. "Are you pissed?"

"I don't like it when you talk to cops."

"Ok. But I do that now and then. I _need_ to do that now and then."

"I want to know if they ask about us."

"I'll tell you if they do. But it's usually about me and Jonah."

"Fine." He was still pissed, and horny. He was horny every fucking time he saw her. "I'll see you later."

"Ok." She started to turn away and he grabbed her and gave her a kiss.

"No sulking." He mumbled and she gave him a look before smiling.

"Ok." She kissed him again. "I'll see you."

-o0o-

They were on her couch, she was lying down reading and he sitting up, watching TV. She put down the book on her stomach and looked at him. She needed to do this now and she wasn't looking forward to it. She looked at him and she finally sat up and decided to start with a question.

"I talked to Gemma a couple of weeks ago."

"About?" He was still looking at the TV.

"She asked me something and I figured out that..." she wasn't sure how to put this. "...that you checked my background."

"We do that." Thankfully he still wasn't looking at her.

"I know, I'm just wondering, why..." This wasn't going as well as she had hoped. She wasn't sure how to put it.

"Why, what?" And now he turned his head, that didn't help. She decided that her own knees was the perfect spot to look at.

"I doesn't, I don't know, gross you out."

He kept looking at her, she didn't even have to look to know that he did. "Why would it?"

"I've been..."

He interrupted her. "I know, why would that gross me out?"

"Like I said, I'm damage gods."

He looked pissed, he kneeled down in front of her on the floor, between her legs. It was hard to not look at him. "You're not."

"Why do you bother with this?"

He smiled. "You know why." She guessed she did, she just wasn't sure how to tell him that... she was damaged, even if he didn't think so. "What?"

"Happy, I'm not sure I can ever give you.. what you want."

"What is it you think I want?"

She was extremely uncomfortable with the situation. She was also scared, that if she told him he would leave and not come back. She kept looking at her own knees.

"Sex." She whispered. She still couldn't look at him.

He moved his hands on the outside of her thighs and finally grabbing her hips. He leaned forward and started to carefully kiss her neck. "Two weeks ago, that might have been true. Besides, it's not all I want."

She was trying to control her breathing. "Then what do you want?"

"You." He kept kissing her neck and his hands was still on her hips, pulling her towards him. "All of you."

"How long do you think you can wait for that?" She was aching and the bastard knew it, he always knew.

"Sex?" He said it extremely close to her ear and she didn't have to see him to know he had that smug, annoying smile.

"No, for me."

He stopped and leaned back and she finally mustard up the courage to look at him. He was smiling, but it wasn't the smug smile. It was the other one, the one he usually gave to Grace.

"Babe, I already have you." She realized that he was right. He did, they called, everyday. He came by as often as possible, he spent time with Grace and her, they talked about everything, almost. If they actually had sex, this would be the most normal relationship she had ever been in.

With the grossing out about being raped out of the way there was the thing that really freaked her out. The reason she had brought this up instead of just jumped him.

"Happy, I have scars."

"Where?" His hand was on her cheek with his thumb following the jawline between her ear and chin.

"My back, mostly, shoulders, some on the stomach one on my breast. He... did things to me and it left scars. He said..."

"Said what?" He was so close to her now, his nose almost touching hers and she could feel his breath on her mouth. She closed her eyes, she didn't want to watch him for this.

"That he wanted to make sure that no one else would be able to look at me, touch me, without feeling sick."

He gave her a soft kiss. "Not going to happen." He mumbled.

"There's marks from whips and knives."

"I won't feel sick, Ava."

"And bite marks."

"Ava, look at me" She opened her eyes and did as he asked. "I won't feel sick, it won't gross me out and I'll still think you're beautiful."

"I can't remember having sex and liking it."

"Do you remember doing this and liking it?" He kissed her and she couldn't help herself. She moaned. But she managed to tear away from his mouth.

"I'm not very experienced, I've never been very... active, doing it."

"I won't leave. Not this time."

She gave up and put her arms around his neck and kissed him again. He lifted her up and carried her towards the bedroom. When he put her back on the ground he looked at her for a while.

Happy couldn't breathe. He caressed her face, she didn't flinch, he couldn't say that she was relaxed, but she seemed determined. He was going to make fucking sure that she liked this.

"What are you most scared of?" He asked.

"That it'll hurt."

"I wont hurt you." He knew that it was something else, probably the scars. Chicks always freaked out about shit like that. He had seen the one on her stomach and it wasn't half as bad as she thought. But he wanted her to say it herself. She wouldn't even look him in the eyes. "What else?" She looked away and he took her by the chin, moved her head up again. "Tell me."

"The scars."

"Show me." He could se her hesitate, he put his hand on her cheek again and leaned his forehead to hers. "Show me."

She took a step back, turned her back towards him and took of her cardigan. He could se the scars on her shoulders, white lines coming out from underneath her tank top. Up towards her neck was the bite marks. There was quite a few of them, more than he had thought.

She put her hands at the hem of the tank top and pulled it over her head. It was a lot more than he had thought. The lines were all over her back. Long and short ones in every direction and in different stages of healing. There was hardly any undamaged skin anywhere on her entire back and some of them disappears down her jeans. How fucked up would a man have to be to do this to a woman? Happy had an urge to go out an find him, and fucking beat him to death, immediately.

He walked up to her, put his hand on her shoulder and turned her around. She had the most heartbreaking fucking look in her eyes, likes she was ashamed, like it was her own fault. Or that he would be grossed out. He caressed her face, leaned down and put his mouth on those full, amazing lips, he sucked on her lower lip and when she opened her mouth and he felt her tongue against his lips he couldn't help himself and let out a groan.

He was still holing her face and looked into her eyes, "Do you trust me?" She swallowed and then she nodded. "You know I wouldn't hurt you?" She nodded again. He led her towards the bed, she immediately froze but he just pushed her carefully and repeated. "I won't hurt you."

He had never done anything like this for pussy. He couldn't remembered the last time he had to do anything but nod at some bitch for her to pull down her panties. But like he had told her, he wanted her, not just pussy. Although he really wanted her pussy too. He had wanted it since the first fucking time he saw her. The wanting her sort of came along the way.

He reached behind her back and hooked off her bra, when it fell off he saw those unbelievable fucking tits naked. He smiled and put his hand on one of them, perfect fit, they were made for his hands. He almost laughed. "You have the most perfect fucking tits I have ever seen." He couldn't stop looking at them.

"There's scars." She pointed at a bite mark on the side of the left breast.

He turned her around and sat down on the bed with her standing in front of him, between his legs.

"They're perfect." He leaned forward and took a nipple in his mouth, she hissed. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him, still sucking, circling the nipple with his tongue. He switched to her other breast and a few minutes later she finally started to relax and put her hands on his shoulders, moaning, ever so silently.

He got up, sliding his hands over her back and she froze again. This was two steps forward and one fucking step back the entire time. "You don't have to do that." She said, looking down in the floor again.

"Do what?" He knew what she meant, but he wanted her to say it.

"Touch them."

"Babe, if I touch you, it's because I like it and I want to touch you. Do you understand?" She nodded again. "Don't ever question shit like that." She nodded once more. He leaned down for her mouth, still stroking her back, pushing his hands down her jeans to her ass. She relaxed again and put her hands inside his cut.

He took it off along with his t-shirt. He knew he would have to be more patient than he had ever been, but he still reached down for her jeans and smiled when she helped him. He knelt down in front of her, kissing her stomach and her scars there, his hands moved over her ass and finally pulled down her panties. He felt her stiffen for a little and he got up and kissed her again, slowly, thoroughly and when she finally moaned he lifted her up and put her down on the bed, still kissing her.

He started to stroke her sides, put his hand on her breast, circling her nipple with his thumb. After a while he replaced it with his mouth and carefully stroking the inside of his thighs. This patience was fucking killing him, if they kept this speed he would come in his pants before even being close to getting any.

But he was still waiting and when she finally moaned and parted her legs, he moved his hand higher, making sure she was still relaxed. When his hand was reached the magic line, she froze up again. He swallowed and annoyed grunt, that wouldn't help but she was bloody killing him here!

He moved up to her mouth and started kissing her, but left his hand between her legs, just holding it there, not moving it. When she pressed herself against him he carefully moved his finger back and forth along the seam. She wasn't even close to ready and he was about to explode in his pants.

He started to move down her body again. He temporarily forgot the frustration when he realized that she was absolutely perfect. He kissed every inch of her, lingering on the scars until she relaxed. Finally he reached down between her legs, he moved both hands to the inside of her thighs, stroking, and looked up at her. She looked back at him.

"You don't have..."

"What did I say?" he cut her off, but in a soft voice. She nodded. "Close your eyes." She did what he told her. He moved his hands up her thighs and carefully held them on each side of that pussy he had been fighting so hard for. He needed to get her soaking wet, about to come because he wouldn't last for long and he wanted her to come. She needed to like this.

He kissed it, carefully pushing his tongue between the folds to find her clit and he could hear when he found it. She gasped and almost tried to pull back so he moved his hands along her ass and gripped her hips. He pushed his tongue against her clit again and started to circle it. When he finally felt her relax and started to push against him instead of pulling away he let go of her hips and parted her to get better access.

He licked her, all the way down from her entrance and up to the clit, putting his lips around it to suck on it while moving his tongue around it. She was starting to moan properly now, he couldn't keep a smile back and touched her opening with one of his fingertips, holding it still, she was finally getting there. She wasn't soaking wet, but she was at least getting there.

She didn't flinch, she actually moaned louder when she felt his finger, but he didn't want to just push it in there. He replaced his tongue with his thumb and moved his mouth up to her breasts, rubbing her clit, holding two fingers at her opening, teasing her and when she finally pressed herself against his hand he let them slide in. Not far, he wanted to be careful, but the slight scream that came out of her mouth wasn't anything but pleasure so he pushed them in.

She was almost soaking wet now. He looked up at her, her head was rolled backwards, mouth open and small sighs were coming from her mouth. Shit, she was so beautiful. Suddenly she opened her eyes, looked down on him and put her hands on his cheeks pulling him to her face and kissed him.

She murmured, "Please, Hap." That sounded like begging and he smiled.

"Sure?" If she said no now his head would probably fucking explode.

"Please..." Definitely begging, he thought to himself.

He started to unbuckle his belt with one hand and the other one was still inside her, it was so fucking wet and tight and he could not wait to get in there. He let go of her to find a condom and get off the last of his clothes. He kissed her while rolling it on. Then he started to rub her clit again, putting his cock at that tight, wet entrance.

He couldn't remember the last time he was this fucking horny, he was seriously trembling from holding back. He kept his eyes on her face, to make sure she was ok. Part of him wanted to just grab her hips, shove it in and fuck her hard. That was how he usually did this.

When she moaned and pushed herself towards him he closed his eyes and sank inside her with a groan. This wasn't a Crow Eater, she was tight.

"Shit, Ava!" He held back again and looked at her. "You ok?"

It was almost fucking impossible to stay still but he need to know. She nodded and caught his mouth with is, kissing him with her hands on his back and then she threw her leg around his ass, pulling him towards her.

He tried to keep it slow and it worked for a while. When she started to meet his thrusts, moaning, his hips started to move by themselves. He put his hand between them and started to rub her, trying to push her over the edge.

Finally she rolled back her head and arched her back, pressing her breasts towards him. "Oh my God, Hap!"

When the cramping started around his cock, he was lost, there was no fucking way he could hold back. He started thrusting harder, with one arm behind her neck and the other one holding her leg. Finally he came and even though he tried he couldn't look at her while he did.

When he finally opened his eyes he lifted his head to look at her. "You ok?"

She smiled and kissed him. "Yes."

He rolled off her, pulled of the condom, tied a knot and dropped it on the side of the bed. She giggled. "You might slip on that."

Ava couldn't take her eyes of Happy, he was next to her and smiled at her comment, then put one arm behind her neck and pulled her closer with the other. She looked at him, kissed him again. "Thank you."

"Just so I know, what are you thanking me for?" He said with that smug smile and raised eyebrows.

"For having patience with me."

"Just that?"

"Fishing, are we?"

"Absolutely." He leaned over and kissed her. "Think you'll make it easier for me next time? Cause I might fucking burst if I need to do it like this every time." Ava was mostly pleased to hear that there would be a next time.

She laughed, "I think so."

She felt him stroking her back and then leaned over to kiss her shoulder, she did her best but still froze up. He looked at her, kissed her while still stroking her back. She soon lost herself in his mouth.

"You're beautiful, Ava. All of you, don't ever fucking forget that." She could only nod and he kissed her on her forehead.

She was about to doze of when she remembered something. "Don't forget that condom."

He chuckled gave her a squeeze before getting up, probably to throw it away. She suddenly realized that she hadn't said it.

"Happy."

"Yeah?" He turned around in the doorway.

"For the record; I liked it."

"I noticed." She didn't even have to see him to know that he was smiling.


	7. I hit Tara

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters._

_As always, thank you for the favs and alerts and a thank you for all of you who are just reading this. I'm glad that people even bother with that._

_I hope all of you who have done reviews has had a message from me. If not, I'm sorry and I'm extremely happy for each and every one of them. Please keep them coming._

* * *

**Chapter 7: I hit Tara**

She woke up in the morning and heard voices in the kitchen. She found a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt and got out. Happy and Grace were sitting at the table, having breakfast, talking. She took a cup and sat down with them.

"Mom, Happy is taking me to school today."

"Really?"

"Though she'd come to school in style."

"A Giah is style."

"Dyna is more style." Grace said and Happy smiled at her.

"Ok then, go brush your teeth and get dressed."

Grace jumped down from the chair and ran off. She took Grace's plate and soaked it in the sink. Happy came up behind her, turned her around and pressed her against the counter, cradled her face and kissed her. Her entire body responded to his touch immediately. It was strange, she couldn't even remember the last time her body reacted to someone or something. But she liked it.

"Are you working today?" He was still pressing her against the counter but had his hands on her hips.

"Yes, start at ten."

"I'll come by tonight, might be late so text me when you're home."

"Ok."

Grace came running with the helmet in her hand. "Can you have t-shirt under your cut?"

"Sure."

"Good, they don't believe me in school when I tell them you have tattoos everywhere. I want them to see the arms." She ran off again, probably collecting the last stuff she needed.

Ava laughed, she wasn't sure what Grace had been saying in school, but judging from how much she talked about Happy at home, it was probably quite a lot.

"What did she say when she saw you?" She had hoped that she would wake up first, not that she had any idea what she would say to her, but even so.

"Nothing. Said hi and asked me if I could take her to school." He was still looking into the hallway.

"Ok, guess the questions will come later." They would come, Grace just had a tendency to ask at the exact right time.

He turned his attention back to her again and moved his hand up under her t-shirt. "What are you wearing for work today?"

"What?" She had not expected that question.

"You always look really hot in your work clothes."

"You think my library work clothes are hot?" Yet another statement she hadn't expected.

"Very." He said with a wicked smile and kissed her again.

"You'll have to come by and have a look then."

"Happy, are we going?" Grace was jumping in the hallway.

"Sure, Sugar, gimme a sec." Happy said and disappeared into the bedroom. Ava walked up to Grace and gave her a hug.

"Mary'll pick you up today, I'll come get you when I'm done at work, ok?"

"Ok mom, love you."

"Come on, kid." Happy said and they walked out, both of them waving at her.

She picked clothes for work, trying to figure out how shirt and blouse could be sexy, but he looked at other things than she did. She was just trying to look proper. She picked a classic gray shift dress with short sleeves.

Her work clothes was one of few thing she actually did spend money on, especially the skirts and the dresses. She only had three of each and a number of belts and shirts, cheaper, to mix and match. It worked fine, not many people came to the library at a daily basis and noticed. The people she worked didn't care, they knew why.

To the dress she chose a black, thin belt, her favorite high heeled shoes with a strap and cheep huge earnings she had bought from H&M. She loved their earnings, they were damn close to free. She had a huge box full of them.

While applying her make up she noticed that she kept smiling. She couldn't help herself. It was the first time in a long time that she felt genuinely good about herself. She had heard about the power of good sex, which judging by the reflection in the mirror had it's merits.

When she was done she picked up the phone and her keys and went to work.

There was a school class coming for a reading before lunch. When she finished and put away the book she turned around and saw Happy, smiling at her. She walked up to him and stopped about five feet away.

"You know your way around this place?" He asked.

"I work here."

"Any private corners?" He smiled and she laughed.

"We have a section of Government Print that's usually pretty empty."

"Wonder why."

Happy had dropped off Grace at school, she had a smile on her face that was from ear to ear when she skipped inside.

When he saw Ava reading to the kids, all he could thing about was her face the night before, when he had his hand up her pussy, coming and on his arm afterwards. He did that, he felt pretty fucking good about himself for it. It wasn't a feeling he was familiar with but then he had never done anything like this.

Now she was walking in front of him, in some sexy dress with a small belt, her back and ass looked dead hot. The bitch heels made her hips swing in a way that gave him a boner. She walked into a small room and through a corridor with bookshelves on both sides and finally a big room. He hadn't seen a single person for quite some time and when she turned around and looked at him he walked right up to her, lifted her up and ravaged her mouth.

"I like your dress." He said when he finally stopped.

"Good."

"Are those stay-ups?"

"No." she said, eying him carefully.

"Damn." He wouldn't have done a serious try anyway, but he wanted to see how she reacted, nice to know where her boundaries were. She looked at him and then smiled.

"I usually don't wear pantyhose when I have my light grey skirt. I can text you next time that happens." Bitch stunned him and he had a full blown hard-on, just staring at her. She gave him a crocked smile and walked passed him towards the door. "All bark..."

He groaned and caught up with her, flipped her around and kissed her, hard. "Just send that text and I'll show you."

He had not been prepared for that, she had expected her to at least blush. Shit! One good fuck and she was willing to let him fuck her at work? If he had known that he would have done a serious try weeks ago. He kissed her goodbye, he needed to get back to the club.

-o0o-

Ava picked up Grace from Mary and in the car on their way home Grace was pondering on something.

"Mom, are we going to stay here?" She knew what Grace meant, they had packed up and moved in a matter of days so many times. It was getting to them both. She hated doing it to Grace, she never had a hard time getting new friends but it wasn't right. She shouldn't have to.

"I hope so."

"I hope so too. I like it here."

"I like it here too." Ava smiled. It was a nice town, small, but people were nice.

"I like Happy." This was what Grace had been working her way up to. Ava had seen it coming a mile away.

"That makes two of us."

"I think he will be nice to you, mom."

"Oh, honey!" She hated this, that Grace even worried about that. "He will, don't worry about it."

They got home, she sent a text to Happy, same one she always sent. 'Door locked'. Her phone beeped a few seconds later, he usually never answered her texts so she assumed it was from her brother. But when she flipped the phone open she saw it was from Happy. 'That all I get?'.

She hesitated for a few seconds and then decided not to answer, that was all he'd get.

They had dinner and she put Grace to bed. She poured a bath for herself when Grace had fallen asleep. At eight there was a banging on the door. She got up, wrapped a towel around her and then walked to the door, picking up the bat and stood by the door.

"Who is it?"

"Open it!" Happy sounded very annoyed. She opened the door and saw irritation all over his face, he looked at her and in a second the irritation turned into a smile. "Whatcha doin'?"

"I was in the bath."

In seconds, he was just in front of her, his eyes all over her. "You didn't answer my text."

"It was all you'd get." She smiled. He raised his eyebrows and then grabbed her towel, pulling her closer.

"Really?"

"Wanna have a bath with me?"

"No." He smiled and then kissed her, taking off her towel, grabbing her ass and lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her into the bedroom. She tried to pull of his cut and he helped, throwing it over a chair.

He put her in the bed and when he was above her she started pulling in his hoodie and t-shirt. When they were off she felt his hand between her legs and she let out a sigh, causing him to push his finger against her clit. She had never even imagined feeling this... need... for anyone.

"Please."

"Gonna answer my texts?" He whispered in her ear while sliding two fingers inside her and she felt her eyes roll back.

"Oh, God!" He kept moving his hand and bent down and caught her nipple in his mouth. "Hap!". It felt like more than she could take. He moved his mouth up to hers and she reached for his belt. Once she got it up she knew his jeans was big enough for her to just stick her hand in, but he obviously hadn't thought of that.

"Shit, Ava!" He groaned when she grabbed his cock. He started pulling of his pants, rolled on a condom and finally he was inside her, kissing her.

It didn't take her long, she came, hard and he covered her mouth with his to stop her from screaming. When she opened her eyes again, he was watching her, with a smile on his lips and then slowly started moving again. She followed him again when he came, groaning into her neck.

"Kinda surprised at how easy this was." He said when he laid on his back beside her.

"You and me both."

Happy looked at her, lying on her back, trying to catch her breath.

"You need to answer my texts."

"Will you do this unless I do?"

"Not unless you open the door in a towel, kind of lost track."

"Shit! I need to empty the tub." She said and got out of the bed and walked towards the bathroom. He got up and followed her. She gave him a spare toothbrush and when they were standing next to each other, brushing their teeth he caught her looking at him in the mirror.

She turned around and drew her fingers along the text around his neck, looking at him with questioning eyes. He rinsed his mouth and kissed her on her forehead without saying anything and she didn't ask out loud.

-o0o-

Happy didn't slept well and he woke up before both Ava and Grace. Ava was sleeping on her stomach, her face was turned away from him. He ran his hand over her scarred back. If he ever got his hands on that fucker he would beat him to death with his bare hands. She moaned and turned towards him, smiled and finally opened her amber eyes.

"Morning." He said and kissed her. He felt the hem of her boy shorts. "Why do you bother to put these on again?"

"In case Grace runs in when she wakes up, or in the middle of the night. I'm trying to set an example for you." She slipped her hand under the cover, stroking his bare ass. "Not that you seem to care."

"Didn't think about that."

"Don't want to scar her for life you know."

"I'll put them on soon." He said and pulled her closer, kissing her. He had missed morning sex. Didn't get much of that when you threw the bitch out the second after you came.

When they were done he pulled on his underwear, and watched her put on panties and a t-shirt.

"Has she seen the scars?"

"Yeah, thought it was best, she's used to them. Don't think she even reflects on them being there."

"Are you working today?" He changed the subject, she might not try to hide the scars but she didn't like talking about them.

"No."

"Any plans?"

"No."

"I thought I'd take Grace for a ride. I'll bring her back after lunch."

"She'd like that." She gave him a kiss when she walked by him into the kitchen.

-o0o-

"I just need to fix this and then I'll take you home, Sugar."

"It's ok, I like it here." She was sitting on a workbench, swinging her legs, just as usual. "Can you do another painting on me?"

"Sure. What do you want this time?" He was sitting on the floor, trying to figure out why the gears on his bike seemed to live a life of their own.

"I want a snake, like the one you have on your head. On my arm."

"I think we can fix that."

"Good." He looked up and notice that her legs weren't swinging. "Can I ask you another thing?"

Happy sat down on a chair in front of her. She had a very serious look on her face. "Yes."

"Do you think my mom is pretty?"

He was very happy that the rest of the club was off somewhere, he didn't want them to hear the answers this. It wasn't any of their business. "Yes, very pretty."

"Do you like her?" She looked straight at him with her piercing blue eyes. Like she was studying him and he remembered what Ava had said. It was impossible to lie to her. Not that he planned to but he could see that Ava was right.

"Yes."

Grace nodded as if he had confirmed something she already knew and he did his best not to smile.

"Will you be nice to her?"

"Yes."

Now she was really studying him. "And you won't hurt her?"

"No, Sugar. I won't hurt her."

She looked at him for a while and then suddenly she smiled. "Ok. Catch me."

"What?" He wasn't sure what she meant and her mood had switched so fast that he hadn't been able to keep up.

"I'm jumping down, catch me." He did and with that, the questioning was over. "Happy?"

He was still trying to catch up with her mood. "Yeah."

"Can I have another Ice cream?"

"Two is enough." He said while putting her down on the ground. "I don't want your mom to get pissed."

"Oh, no, that would be bad." She said and picked up her helmet. "Are we going home now?"

"In a while. You know, you could help me with the bike."

"Yeah?" She said with a huge smile.

"Sure. Come on, I'll show you."

She was skipping again, her entire body vibrating with energy so he assumed that they were ok and that she was satisfied with his answers. If only he could figure out this shit in his own head that easily. What it was these to girls was doing to him. That would make _him_ calmer.

-o0o-

Happy had called and said they'd be late. She talked to Grace as well, she said she was having fun and that Happy had to fix something first, then they'd be back.

She heard a knock on the door and picked up the bat.

"Who is it?"

"Gemma."

She opened the door with the safety chain still on and saw Gemma, closed it and opened the door completely

"Where's the gun?" Gemma said with a stern face.

"In the wardrobe."

"Darlin', you need to use it."

"Are you here to nag me about my gun?"

"No." Now she looked uncomfortable

"Want some coffee?"

"Sure." Gemma followed her into the kitchen.

"Something happened?"

"I hit Tara." She just kept looking at her. "She... walked up behind me and my gut feeling was to hit."

"Might not be the best gut feeling, but it's not strange."

"What's usually your got feeling?"

"Get Grace out of the way. Once she's out of the way I don't really care anymore."

"Doesn't sound like the best gut feeling either." Gemma said. "But the sign of a god mom."

"I've never been big on self-preservation." She admitted. "She's the reason I left. She's my everything. But I guess all parents feel that why that about their kids."

"Just the good ones, darlin'." Gemma said with a smile and the she sighed. "Tara booked me and appointment with a shrink."

"Did you keep it?"

"I went there, then this girl came out, crying, a mess. I couldn't go. It's not me."

"No, you seem like more of a fighter. And I'm not referring to hitting Tara. But talking about it, working through it, or even crying is also a way of fighting it."

"You cry?"

"With my brother. It's good to have someone who you can fall apart in front of. Or just talk to, nag, say all those things you don't want anyone else to know."

"Did you tell anyone, about me?"

"No."

"Not even Happy?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You told me not to."

"Would you have told him even if I hadn't said it?"

"No, I wouldn't. This is your business, I'm sure you have a reason to keep it a secret and it's not up to me to decide if it's the right thing to do or not."

"If... if I need to talk about this shit, or anything..."

"You know where I am."

"I can't even think about sex, and I'm dry, Tara said it was estrogen. Got some prescription."

"You know it's not just a physical thing, right?"

"Yeah." Gemma nodded. "Right now it feels like I'm gonna end up like you. No offense."

"You know it's not the same thing, me and you. I'm not trying to diminish what happened to you, but it's not."

"I know." Gemma looked up at her. "Your blushing. Ohhh."

Ava tried to clear her throat and Gemma stared to laugh.

"Guess you finally found out what sex was?"

"Hrm, well..."

"Good for you, sweetie." she smiled. "Gives me some hope to. If you can get over all your shit, I can sure as hell get over mine."

"Not trying to pressure you, but it helps if they know."

"I'll keep it in mind." Gemma got up. Ava got up as well and Gemma placed a kiss on her cheek. "I might pick you up on that offer."

"Any time. Call me or just drop by." She meant it, she would help her in anyway she could.

"I'm not going to cry. I don't do shit like that."

"Didn't think you would." Ava said as she followed her to the hallway.

"Just... talk. You know?"

"I know. Listen, I'm not going to ask you to do or talk about anything you're not comfortable with. Just... whatever your want. If you just want to sit and drink coffee or beer with me, that's fine. Sometimes that's all you need, to be with someone who knows."

"Good." Gemma said as she opened the door. "Now go and get that fucking gun."


	8. Hey, a Kangaroo!

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters._

_I was going to publish this later this week, but since it's already done I don't see any point in waiting. I'm sure you'll agree.  
_

_Thank you, again, for being so extremely supportive. I hope you like this chapter as well. I'm finally up to speed with the second season and I'm skipping things from the show since I'm assuming that you've seen it._

_Let me know if you have any questions and thank you, thank you, thank you for reviews, favs and alerts. And also, for reading this._

* * *

**Chapter 8: Hey, a Kangaroo!**

She was asleep when she heard her phone ring. She hadn't stayed up to wait for Happy, he said he'd come and she assumed he would call when he did. The sound of the phone made her automatically smile.

"Yeah?"

"_Hi, something happened. I'll be really late, if I can come at all."_

"What happened?"

"_I'll tell you later, or tomorrow."_

"Ok, just call if you're coming here. I'll open the door."

"_Ok, sleep tight."_

She hung up the phone and managed to fall asleep again. She was worried, but she had been able to fall asleep worried for six years.

The next time the phone rang she looked at her alarm-clock. 2 am.

"Happy?"

"_Yeah, I'm at your door."_

She got up and walked to the door and when she opened it, Happy was standing outside, looking extremely tired.

"Come on." She said and took his hand, pulled him inside and locked the door. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, kissing her.

He pulled of her huge, worn t-shirt. "Is this what you sleep in?"

"It's comfortable." She smiled.

Happy hadn't planned on going to her. It was late at night and he thought it was better if he just let her sleep. But by the time they were done at the table he wanted her with him. That thought alone scared the shit outta him. The other feeling that freaked him out was the relief he felt when she opened the door and smiled at him. It was strange, to feel relief and complete fucking panic at the same time.

He kissed her entire body, tasted those perfect tits and kissed her while putting on the condom as she was begging him to come inside. He loved to hear her do that.

As he was reaching the orgasm she did as well and started to moan louder. He didn't want her to wake up Grace and he had forgotten to close the door to the bedroom. He tried to cover her mouth with his but was trying to focus and wait for her so he finally just put his hand over her mouth.

It took him a few seconds to realize that she wasn't moving anymore, she was lying completely still. He stopped and looked at her. Her eyes were closed. He removed his hand.

"Ava?" Then he understood. "Oh, shit. Ava?"

He was about to pull out of her when she spoke. "No. I'm fine. Don't stop."

"Fucks sake, stop saying that! You're not fine!" It was probably not the right time to get pissed but she shouldn't say that shit when it was obvious that something was wrong.

She threw her legs around him, pulling him back. "Don't stop." Her arms was around his neck and she pulled him towards her mouth. When she bit down in his lower lip he smiled and shoved his tongue down her mouth and rolled his hips towards her again.

It didn't take long to get her going and then they came together while he was pressing his mouth towards hers. He laid down on his side next to her.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry."

"Got nothin' to be sorry for." He gave her a kiss. "It was me."

"You didn't know. It just felt... familiar."

"Fuck! I'm sorry, babe."

"I'm ok. Besides, I got off." She said with a smile and rolled over to her side, facing him, and put a hand on his cheek. "Don't think about it. Tell me what happened today instead."

"A car bomb." He sighed, rolled over on his back again, rubbing his face. He didn't want to see her face. He wondered how much this would freak her out.

"Is everyone ok?" That was what she said and it stunned him. Like he had said they had an accident or something. He turned his head to watch her reaction.

"No, not Chibs, the Scotsman, remember him?"

"No, I don't. Sorry." She moved towards him and put her arm around him and kissed his shoulder.

"Could you let me tell Grace?"

"Sure. Any news? Will he be ok?"

"We'll know more in the morning." He turned to his side again and put his arm around her.

"Will she be safe there?"

"We'll be on our guard from now on. Don't worry."

"I'll worry, but I won't nag."

"No, no nagging." He laughed and gave her another kiss. "You should get back to sleep."

She took that a lot better than he had expected. So far, she had taken everything extremely well, which was good. He wasn't going anywhere and she needed to get used to this stuff. The same second he thought that last sentence he felt that slight panic again. This bitch had him all tied up and she didn't even know it.

-o0o-

The morning after they were all having breakfast. Grace was upset about Chibs but when Happy promised that he'd be ok and that she could visit him at the hospital, she started to calm down. Ava heard the cell ringing and flipped it open to answer.

"Hello."

"_Hi, it's Gemma."_

"Hi Gemma." Happy gave her a questioning look and she just shrugged.

"_Me and Tara are going shooting, thought you might wanna come with us, practice."_

"Ehh, ok?"

"_Darlin' you need to get used to that gun, I don't want to see you open the door with a bat again. It would piss me off."_

"Ok, do I need to bring my own?" Happy looked at her again, smiling, but still looked confused.

"_No, I'm giving you a new one, Happy said your hand was hurting after the last practice, you need another gun."_

"Ok." She sighed.

"_I'll be there in an hour, we'll drop Grace of at school on our way. If that big bald guy you have at home cant' do it." _She said the last part with a teasing voice. "_I need to run some errands before so you'll have to tag along."_

"Ehr..."

"_Bye darlin'."_ And with that she hung up.

"What did she want?" Happy asked.

"You told on me!"

"What?"

"That my hand hurt, Gemma is giving me another one and now I have to go practice with her and Tara."

"Good." He kissed her.

"She said that we'd take Grace to school if 'that big bald guy I have at home can't do it'."

"I'll take her."

"They all know?"

"They don't know shit, just guessing."

"You owe me a dime." Grace said at the table and Happy reached down his pocked and gave her one. She jumped down from the table and ran to her room, probably to get ready for school and to put the dime in her piggy bank. Happy turned back to Ava. "What's up with you and Gemma?"

"Nothing, we've just... talked."

"There's something you're not telling me."

"I hate it when you do that!"

"You gonna tell me?"

"No." She tried to slip out of his arms but he held her tight.

"I could make you."

"Be nice!"

He gave her a naughty smile and pulled her towards him and kissed her until she felt dizzy. She put her arms around him and pulled him even closer.

"See how nice I am." He squeezed her one last time and then turned to the hallway. "Sugar! You ready?"

"Yes! Bye mom, love you."

-o0o-

"What is this place?" It looked strange, Gemma came walking with some posters under her arm but it was Tara who answered her.

"It's a porn studio." She could hear the contempt in Tara's voice, it was obviously a sore spot. Ava on the other hand, could feel herself blush.

"Oh."

"You are such a sweetheart." Gemma said with a laugh.

"I'm just... coming to terms with this."

"With what?" Tara asked.

"Sex, not sure I'm ready for porn though."

Gemma put up a porn poster and walked back to them.

"Ava, you go first, try one of the guns."

She picked up a gun from the table, did all the tings Happy had told her, and fired.

"Wow, that's good." Tara said.

"Very good, your turn Tara."

Ava listened to Gemma, explaining how she should use the gun. It sounded almost exactly like Happy's instructions, she assumed it was the shooting 101.

Some blonds with big tits were watching them but then walked inside again after a while. She was definitely not ready for porn, just their clothes made her blush. Tara and Gemma was standing by the new poster Gemma was putting up and talked about something. It seemed personal so she didn't want to listen in.

Suddenly they halted and stared at something. She turned around to see a women with absurd hair get out of a white car. She couldn't believe her eyes when Tara pointed her gun at the woman. Tara and Gemma were both smiling.

"Hrm, that was fun." Tara said and looked extremely pleased with herself.

"What?" Ava couldn't help herself, she started at the in their faces. They both looked like the cat who swallowed the canary.

"She's been after Jax and was sort of bitchy towards me." Tara explained.

"Sort of, she was a total bitch." Gemma said to Tara. "You're gonna love this." She picked a gun from the table and suddenly shot at the white car that just arrived.

Tara smiled, aimed and shot as well.

"Come on, Ava!" Ava couldn't stop laughing but managed to get off a few rounds as well. All three of them were laughing, shooting at the white car, whose alarm suddenly sounded very tired until it died. They stood there laughing for a long time.

"I can't believe I just did that!" Ava said, her adrenaline was pumping. She felt great! For shooting at something! She should probably feel horrible but she didn't.

"Well, if some porn pussy ever come on to your man and treat you bad, I'll shoot at her car for you as well." Tara said.

"I don't need to know why you want a car blown away, just tell me what car to shoot at." Gemma smiled and collected her guns. "Did you like that gun darlin'?"

"Yeah."

"Are you going to use it?"

"For cars or when I open the door?" Gemma just raised her eyebrows at her. "I'll use it. Promise."

"I'll give you a lift to Grace's school. We just need to go by the garage and drop of Gemma first." Tara said.

-o0o-

Happy came out of the Club House and saw Tara and Jax talking.

"You coming, Ava?" Tara yelled. Happy was surprised but started walking toward the Cutlass and saw Ava coming running from the office. She slowed down when she saw him and smiled.

"Hi."

"What's up?"

"We were just dropping off Gemma, I needed to use the bathroom." She was still smiling and and he smiled back, wondering why she didn't come up to him. He wasn't going to chase after her.

"I'll see you tonight. Might be late, got a lot of stuff to do."

"Ok." she said while walking to the car. "I'll text you when I get home."

"Oh, I got a call from Luann," Jax suddenly said, "Apparently there was some firearm incident out at Cara Cara."

"You don't say?" Tara said and it was obvious that she knew exactly what he was talking about. Happy looked at Ava, who just smiled and shrugged and the practically dove into the car. They drove off and Jax just shook his head.

"What did they do?"

"Pumped Ima's car full of led." Jax smiled

"What?" Happy was stunned. "Why?"

"Ima gave Tara a hard time and came on to me. Guess Tara was still pissed." Jax explained. "I have a feeling my ma' had something to do with this."

"Ava was shooting as well?" He could hardly believe it, he couldn't get her to use the gun and now she was shooting on a car?

"No idea." Jax smiled. "So what's up with the two of you? Guessing you're not playing dad simply cause the kid knows about bikes."

Happy shrugged his shoulders. He hadn't figured it out yet. "Not sure."

"Heard anything from that psycho ex?"

"No."

"Know what's up with her and ma'?"

"No." He was wondering that himself. "It's something, I'll see if I can find out."

"Nah, wouldn't recommend that you poke around in ma's shit. Can loose a ball if you do that. That's if you're lucky."

Jax had a point, better to just stay out of the bitch business. Wouldn't want them to fill his bike full of led. Gemma wouldn't have any problems with doing something like that if he stepped on her toes.

-o0o-

"Shit!" She was holding Grace while trying to open the door, which meant she had to push it to be able to turn the key. Not all that easy and naturally she managed to break the key!

She sat down on the stairs and was very happy that she had that cell. Jack was the first that came to mind since she knew Happy was occupied. Then it hit her. Jack wasn't at home, she would have to bother Happy anyway. He picked up immediately.

"_What's wrong?"_

"I broke the key in the bloody door and I was going to call Jack, but he's not home."

"_Why?"_

"He's visiting friends in Nashville."

"_No, why were you going to call him?"_

"You're busy, that's what you said. Grace is already asleep and..."

"_Just come to the club."_

"Eh, ok?" Why couldn't he just take his bike? But she wasn't going to complain as long as someone got her door open. "I'll be there in a while."

She hung up and got Grace back into the car. When she drove into the lot she almost hit the break. There was people there, not that many but more than she had expected. And some them were women, with very little clothes on. She sighed and got Grace, there was no way in hell she would leave her in the care here. She put Grace's legs around her waist and her head was leaning on the shoulder. When she tried to close the door to the car a man smiled at her and helped her.

Happy saw her coming towards him, she hadn't noticed him and he watched her for a while. She looked extremely... lost and slightly uncomfortable. The others got quiet as she came towards them and watched her. They had asked him tons of questions that he never answered and they were probably surprised to see her. They had even tried to ask Grace questions, she just laughed at them.

It was nice to see Grace as well, a normal kid. Earlier that day they had the "met" Weston's kids. Complete psychos and one of them pulled a gun on Jax. He couldn't help to compare them to Grace. Weston had been given every opportunity to get normal kids and had fucked it up royally. Ava had been on the run with a psycho after her and had managed to bring up an amazing kid. Now she was standing in the middle of a biker club, looking at some of the Crow Eaters who were eying her back, probably not knowing what to make of her.

Her eyes finally landed on him. She didn't say anything for a while, then a huge smile spread in her face and she looked right at him. "Hey, a kangaroo!"

He recognized the quote from the chick flick she made him watch, but it took him a few seconds to understand why she was using it. When he did, he burst into laugher. A very loud laughter and everyone in the room stared at him, Tig and Juice's mouths were hanging open.

A few minutes later he managed to collect himself. "Come on. Hand her over."

She gave him Grace. "Mind telling me why I'm here?"

"It's going to take us a while to get the door open. You and Grace can sleep here. The prospect will have a look at your door." She nodded. "I'll need to go in a while as well but I'll be back later."

He knew she wouldn't want to talk about this in front of the others so he started to walk towards his room. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ava asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Only one I can think of." He opened his door and put Grace in the bed. "I know you always have a book in your bag so just read for a while. There's coffee in the bar and food in the kitchen. I'll let Gemma know that you're here, she'll make sure that they all treat you right. Lock the door, no-one will bother you." She laughed at him. "What?"

"I think that's the longest speech you've ever given me. Not scared you'll run out of words?" She had teased him for that, that he didn't say much and asked him if he thought he had a limited amount of words to use.

He didn't see the need to talk all the time. Besides, he liked to get her going by having her annoyed, she lost some of her armor when she did, flashes of her real self got through. She bit back and didn't seem worried. He hadn't told her that and he wouldn't. He just enjoyed it when it happened.

"Shut up." He said and pulled her in and gave her a kiss. "A kangaroo?"

"You know what I meant."

"Yeah." He held her hair with both his hands and gave her another kiss. "Oh, are you going to tell me about the car?"

"What car?" She looked confused but he could see when she realized what he meant and she blushed. "Oh... well... you know."

"No. I don't." She was trying to slip away but he held her, she always tried to slip away when she was uncomfortable.

"Tara was pissed at the girl who owned the car and they started to shoot at it. She wasn't in the car. The girl." He laughed at her attempted to make it sound ok just cause 'the girl' wasn't in the car. Only Ava would call a porn star a 'girl'.

"Guessin' you're more comfortable with the gun."

"Not really. It was a heat of the moment kind of thing." She was still blushing.

"Heat of the moment?"

"Stop teasing me!"

"Not going to happen." He gave her a last kiss before letting her go. "I'll see you later."

He stepped outside, and just outside his door was Tig, Juice, Chibs and Bobby .

"You have got to explain the kangaroo comment." Tig sounded desperate.

"It's a quote, from a movie. This Broadway bitch comes to Africa for a Safari. The guy in the movie is hoisting up a rhino-kid from a trap and she says. 'Hey, a kangaroo'."

They were quiet for a while. "Still don't get it." Bobby said.

"A Broadway bitch in an African jungle? Way out of her element." Happy thought it was quite obvious.

Chibs and Juice got it first and started to laugh, it took Bobby a few seconds longer and then he laughed as well.

"Still don't fucking get it." Tig sounded annoyed.

"She was out of her element, to say the least. Ava." Chibs was drying his cheeks.

"Ahhhh, yes ok. That was funny." Tig said with a chuckle. "A kangaroo."

-o0o-

It was the middle of the night when she heard a knock on the door, Happy still wasn't back and she didn't think he would knock on his own door. She got out of the bed and walked up to the door.

"Who is it?"

"Gemma." She opened it and Gemma had a strange look in her face. "I have some bad news, hon'."

"What happened? Is he ok?"

"He's fine honey, but he's been arrested."

Ava didn't have any illusions about them being lawful members. She knew they broke the law, she wasn't stupid. She had heard them call him Killer and she had a pretty good idea what the smiley faces on his stomach was. She closed the door behind her and stepped out in the hallway.

"For what?"

"It's complicated, sweetie. They attacked a church meeting."

"Why would they do that?"

"They were set up."

"Who else?"

"Clay, Jax, Bobby, Tig, Juice and Happy"

"Jesus!" She sat down on the floor.

"We're going to bail them out, as soon as we can." Gemma knelt down in front of her. "Hey! Are you listening to me?"

"Yes!" She tried to snap back.

"I need you to text me, every night, just like you did with Happy, and if you don't do it. I'm going to have someone break down the door."

"I don't really have a door at the moment." Her own comment made her realize that her mind wasn't working properly yet.

"The prospect fixed it. But you should stay here for the night."

She had gotten used to having him and now she was on her own again. The old familiar panic was sneaking up on her. She had hardly been aware of the fact that it had been gone, but now she realized how safe he had made her feel. And how quickly that safety could be taken away from her. And Grace! What the hell was she supposed to tell Grace? She couldn't tell her that he attacked a church meeting!

"You call me, if there's anything. I'll have someone at your house in fifteen minutes." Gemma sat down next to her and lit a cigarette.

"Will you keep me updated?"

"Of course, honey." Gemma gave her a hug.

"Can you give me a cigarette?" Gemma handed her the pack.

"Know what? I won't be able to sleep tonight and the lawyer is meeting us here tomorrow morning, why don't we go and hit the bar and smoke 'til our throats hurt?"

There was some appeal in that plan. But she couldn't. "I can't leave Grace."

"She knows where she is. She'll come out to the bar for Ice cream in the morning." Gemma said as she got up and reached out her hand to pull up Ava as well. "I'll have the prospect check on her now and then and we're not going to get blasted, just a few beers and then we'll stick to the coffee."

"Ice cream?" That could explain the sugar rushes Grace tended to have after their rides.

"Don't be a bitch. Let her and Hap have their... thing."

"Fine."

"You're not fooling me for a second darlin', you love what they have." Gemma laughed. "Speaking of private things, what's this thing about a kangaroo you said to Hap?"

-o0o-

They had fucked up. Fucking Zobelle had played them like puppets and now he was arrested and Ava was on her own. Fuck!

Well, not on her own, the others knew the deal and Gemma was supposed to tell Ava to text her every night instead of him. He trusted Gemma to make sure that would happen. Even if he didn't know what those two bitches was up to he could at least trust Gemma to keep an eye on Ava thanks to it.

"Aryans put out the word, those white boys are on our own." Jax said as he came up to them.

"Yeah, it's Zobelle tapping in to the shot callers." Bobby sighed.

This was a shitty situation, to say the fucking least. They wouldn't make it on their own. Not a chance in hell.

Clay walked up. "Rosen thinks the case is being tied up. Be a while before it sees a court room."

"And we're seeing kangaroos." Tig nodded.

"What?" Clay said.

"Forget it." Tig said and Clay shrugged.

"Without a color co-op we ain't gonna make it to trial." Happy said

Definitely a shit situation all around and the fact that Clay and Jax were on each others throats didn't help. They wouldn't get through anything if they didn't fucking work together.


	9. My bed, my rules

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons Of Anarchy or andy of the Characters._

_I'm amazed and feel slightly humble considering how many favs, alerts and reviews I'm getting for this story. Thank you!_

_Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them._

_The kangaroo-quote in the last chapter is from the movie Mogambo, just wanted to clarify that._

* * *

**Chapter 9: My bed, my rules**

Ava was sitting in the club house with a lawyer. Gemma was upset, they were being 'jammed'. Ava's experience with the court system was more limited than anyone probably would have thought. She had given up on getting any help from them about three years ago. And she hadn't been on this side of the fence, the one trying to get the arrested people out.

"They got no protection!" Gemma said. Ok, she sort of understood that, they were in trouble. She had seen some movies about prison life, but that was as far as that knowledge went. She looked over at Tara, she seemed to understand more than Ava did.

"What about a bondsman?"

Ava knew what 'out on bail' meant. It was when Jonah could come and threaten her before the trial, make sure she left town and didn't witness.

"You need 300K." Ava swallowed a laugh. She had about 250 dollars and a car no sane person would buy even if she would be prepared to sell it. She wasn't sure why she was here, what she could do.

"Clay needs you to call Laroy, deliver this message. I never saw it, never gave it to you." The lawyer said while giving Gemma a note just before leaving and Ava almost choked.

Suddenly she realized how Jonahs friends had been able to call her in the middle of the night and say those things to her, to know those things while he was arrested. This side of the fence made her feel split in two. She felt confused, angry and also understood things she wish she had understood years ago.

"I have an idea." Gemma said after they had been sitting quiet for a while.

-o0o-

She wasn't supposed to work that day but her boss called and asked her to come by. He wanted to talk to her. She was terrified and hoped that this wasn't the 'you've done a great job but we won't be needing your service anymore'-talk.

James Keller, her boss, was in his office and smiled at her when she walked inside.

"Ava, I'm glad you could come, I know you had the day off."

"It's not a problem Mr. Keller." She smiled and sat down.

"As you may know, Mary has decided to retire." He was still smiling. She hadn't known that. Mary was working part time and had been a huge help with Grace. They rarely worked at the same time and she suspected that Mr. Keller had made sure that they didn't when he found out that Mary helped her.

And she realized, she might not be fired. "I didn't know. She hasn't told me."

"Maybe she wanted you to have a surprise. I know that it might be a problem for you to work full time, but I would appreciate if you tried. And since Mary is in charge of the children's section you will take over that position."

She was stunned. She didn't know what to say and James started to laugh. "She is also in charge of other departments but those will be assigned to others. I think you should focus on the children's literature."

She felt that she was staring at him and tried to regain her breathing. "Thank you!" It was the only thing she could think of saying.

He laughed. "I'm assuming that you accept the position."

"Oh my God. Yes!" She laughed and got up and gave him a hug.

"You've deserved it. I know you haven't been here long but you've done wonderful work and the children loves you. And frankly, no one else here is that interested in those areas."

"I am. I love them."

"I know you do. Everyone here knows that." He smiled. "Come on. Let's go and talk to Mary."

They went to Mary's office, that would be her office. Mary was waiting for them and once James had left, Mary gave her a huge hug. "I'm so glad that you're taking over. You'll do a great job!"

Ava couldn't stop laughing. She wanted to call Happy and tell him and then remembered where he was. She sat down on a chair. "I know you had a lot to do with this. I'm so grateful. You've done so much for me."

"Oh, you should have noticed. I've been grooming you for this the last two months."

"Sneaky." Ava smiled. "What are you going to do?"

"Read. I'm going to sleep late and read a lot." Mary had a huge smile. "And don't worry. I'll help you with Grace as much as possible."

"Sometimes I don't know what I've done do deserve people like you in my life."

"It's the universe's way to balance out the other people." Mary gave her a hug. "I'll clean out the office for you so you can take over."

Mary knew most of the truth. Some of the others knew quite a lot as well, it was necessary since she was using a fake name towards the visitors.

"No! I love this office. Just take your personal things but the rest is perfect."

There were books everywhere and she loved the entire office and didn't want it to be cleaned out. She wanted it to stay this way.

"You should go and tell Grace and Happy." Mary said. "I'll see you tomorrow, I know you don't need much time to get into this, you've helped me so much already."

"Happy has been arrested." She sighed.

Mary sat down in the other visitor's chair and took her hand. "Are someone else keeping an eye on you?"

"Yes. Don't worry."

"Ok, I just wanted to make sure." She squeezed her hand. "He'll be fine. He can take care of himself."

Ava laughed. "I'm sure he can. I just miss him. Already. And I'm not sure what to tell Grace."

"The truth. There is nothing else to say. Leave out the worst parts. Tell her the honest truth about the things you can say. The rest is nothing she needs to know."

"You're a wise woman." Ava said and put her hand on Mary's wrinkled cheek. "Thank you."

"I'm surrounded by thousands of years of wisdom and I've worked here since I was younger than you." She laughed. "Go get Grace. I'll see you tomorrow."

They got up and she gave Mary another hug. At least some things were working out. It would be a hassle to get things to work with Grace but she would get it to work. She had to.

-o0o-

"_I'm sending the prospect over. He'll keep an eye on you."_

"I can't have someone with me at work the entire time, Gemma."

"_It's public place and I'm telling him to go to the library, what are you going to do about it?"_

"Fine."

Gemma was going overboard with this. About half an hour later a guy with a cut came into the library and she walked up to him. "I take it you're the prospect?"

"Yes." He was thin and looked very young.

"Well, I'm going to my office." I felt extremely strange to say that, 'my office'. "I have a reading to a class in a few hours. I guess you'll just have to follow me around."

"That's fine." He said.

Forty-five minutes later she was going insane. The man was just sitting in a chair, staring. She tried to remember anything she knew about him. Finally she sighed. "Come on."

"What?"

"I can't stand that you're just sitting there." She got up.

"I'm fine."

"I'm not." She walked outside and over to the area with fiction and picked found the book she was looking for. "Here!"

"I'm not much for reading."

"What's your name?"

"Half-sack."

"What?"

"I used to only have one ball." He said with a smile.

She stared at him for a while. "I'm not going to ask. What's your Christian name?"

He blushed and rubbed his hair. "Kip."

"Ok, Kip. Try reading that. You'll like it."

"The Dice-man?" He looked at the book. "I don't know..."

"Read the first fifty pages. If you still don't like it I'll find you another one."

"Hmmm. ok."

They went back to the office and an hour later she went out for the reading and Half-sack followed her. Still holding the book. She sorted books, they had lunch and he didn't once put down the book.

"Did you like it?" she finally asked in the afternoon.

"It's great. Thank you!"

She smiled. She hadn't lost it. That was her gift, knowing what books people would like.

Sitting on her desk she looked at Half-sack, completely lost in the book, and thought about the reason that he was there. That Happy was locked up, the lawyer who handed that paper to Gemma, claiming he had never seen it and Gemma working to get the money to bail them out. Something that would probably scare some of those people who had been at the meeting. It felt like she was on the wrong side of the fence.

-o0o-

She was lying in bed, it was late at night. Gemma had told her she had managed to get the money for them and they were going to be released. They didn't know when though.

Her phone rang.

"Hallo."

"_Hey, it's me."_

"Hi." She felt like crying, he was out and he was ok. But Juice had been hurt, she knew that. "You ok?"

"_I'm fine. I need to sleep, I haven't had much of that, so I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"_

"Ok." At the moment she was just happy he was out. She hadn't had much sleep either, she had been worried and unsafe. That scared her as well, that she was so dependent on him now, to have him around. She had once promised herself to not get herself in that situation. Him going away for a while made her realize that she had been dependent on people, and had gotten close to a lot of people, not only people from the club. People it would be hard to leave if Jonah found them.

"_You sure you're ok?"_

"Just tired, I'm glad you're out."

"_Heard you got a new job." _

"Yes. Head of children's section. I have an office."

"_Is there a lock on the door?"_

"Yes."

_"Still sounds like something is off with you." _Could he seriously do that over the phone? She would have to start sending him notes when she was trying to hide things from him.

"I'm ok. I'll see you tomorrow. And I've missed you."

"_I know. Sleep tight, Babe."_

"You too you smug bastard." She said and could hear him laugh when he hung up the phone.

-o0o-

The morning after they were in a hurry. Grace was eager to meet Happy. She had followed Mary's advice and had told Grace that he was arrested, something she had found hard to understand. She mostly thought it was unfair that Happy was arrested and her dad wasn't. She had told her the truth about that as well, justice wasn't always the same thing as fair.

Now she wanted to see him, immediately.

"We'll see him this evening, honey."

"I want to see him and I want him to take me to visit Chibs."

"I'm sure he'll take you someday, when Chibs is well enough to have visitors."

She got her work clothes on – a black shift dress with red belt - and got Grace into the car. She was tired and her throat was hurting, she had been smoking too much lately.

Suddenly she heard a bang and then a strange sound. She got out of the car and saw she had a flat tyre. She sighed, called school and work and said they would be late and then called Gemma.

Piney picked them up. "I'll take you by the garage, it's on the way to school and work. I'll take you there later."

"Thank you, Piney."

"Don't mention it." They came to the garage and Piney pointed at the Club house. "Happy's in there, go say hi to him. I'll unload you car and come and get you when I'm done."

Opie walked up to them. "Hi, what's wrong?" He said, catching Grace as she ran up to him. Grace was very close to these people. Piney had given her a kiss when he came and picked them up and now Opie lifted her up and smiled as she explained the sound that the car had done.

"A flat." Ava explained.

She hadn't talked to Opie before, but he pointed to the Club house. "Come in and say hi. Bobby's missed you, Baby Girl." He said to Grace and put her down on the ground again. Grace came up and took Ava's hand.

"Come on mom. I want to see Happy."

-o0o-

Happy was at the bar, Half-sack was showing them his new ball, claiming that one ball was always bigger than the other.

"I think mine are equally huge, man." Tig said, putting his hand down his pants. He heard the door opening to the clubhouse but didn't think much about it.

"Guys?" It was Opie, but to Happys horror, just ahead of him was Ava... and Grace.

Half-sack turned around, with his dick still hanging out. Luckily Ava was quick, she slammed her hand over Grace's eyes and turned them both around.

"Aoch, Mom! Why did you do that?"

"Honey, if you still want to know what happened today on you fifteenth birthday, I'll be happy to tell you. But for now, just trust me when I say it was necessary." He could hear the laughter in her voice. And he couldn't help noticing she had a hot, black dress, kind of like the other one she had. With a thin red belt, her hair was up and she had sexy bitch heels and long dangling earrings.

"You can turn around now." Bobby laughed, and when she did he saw she was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down her face.

"I don't even wanna now what that was about." She said, drying her cheeks.

Grace ran up to him first and gave him a hug when he caught her. "I missed you, Happy."

"Missed you too, Sugar." He gave her a kiss before putting her down and she ran over to Bobby who picked her up and put her on the bar, she immediately started to talk.

"What are you doing here?" He gave walked up to her, despite promising that he would never do that to a bitch. He had missed her, and there had been something off in the quick talk they had the night before. He didn't think it was because he didn't come over, it was something else.

"I finished that book. It was great." He heard behind him and realized it was Half-sack. "I'll go get it for you."

"Thanks, I'm glad you liked it." Ava smiled. What the fuck was this about? Why had Half-sack borrowed a book form her. And since when did he fucking read?

"Hey, what are you wearing?" Tig said and Happy felt the need to give him an eye, he immediately got pissed since Half-sack had already worked him up. "What? Just asking, she looks nice."

"Work clothes." Ava said and looked up at him again. "We got a flat on our way to school, Piney is giving us a lift but I though I'd say hi."

"I need to get to the library more." Tig said and Happy looked at him again. "What? Just saying."

Happy pushed her towards the door so they were out of eyeshot from the others and then held her against the wall. "So you missed me?" he whispered.

"A little." She said with her eyes sparkling. Teasing bitch!

"I'll come by later."

"Gemma called, said she's having family dinner tonight." Fuck! He didn't want to have a fucking dinner. And he wanted to kiss her.

"Ok, I'll see you there."

She leaned over even closer and whispered in his ear. "Don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not wearing any pantyhose."

Then she just walked away, leaving him with a stupid smile on his face. He came around the corner just in time to see Half-sack go up to her and give her a book. "Any other suggestions on what I should read?"

"Try 'Heart of Darkness', I'll get you a copy." Ava said and turned to Grace. "Grace, you ready?"

"Yup." Grace jumped into Bobby's arm and he put her down on the floor. "Bye everyone!"

Happy caught her as she walked by and gave her another kiss, he had missed her a lot.

"Can you take me to see Chibs today?"

"Not today, Sugar, I'll try tomorrow." He gave her another kiss. "You can go with her." He said to Ava.

"Sure?"

"Yeah." He down Grace and he watched them walk outside.

"What the fuck, Tig!" he said the second they were outside the door.

"What?"

"You can't fucking comment on her like that."

"Just said she looked nice"

"Don't try."

"And you!" He said and pointed at Half-sack. "What the fuck was this with the book."

"Gemma told me to keep an eye on her. I was with her at the library, she gave me a book."

Happy felt like he was going to burst.

"Librarians didn't look like that when I was a kid." Opie said. Happy turned around and looked at him, was he for fucking real?

"Stop messing with him." Bobby said. They sat down in the couches. "We need to take a look at this thing with Clay and Jax."

They sure did. Something was completely fucked with the two of them.

-o0o-

Ava and Grace were visiting Chibs. Grace was sitting at a chair, talking to him, he seemed tired and she was worried that Grace was wearing him out.

"Grace, maybe we should go, Chibs seems tired."

"No." He protested. "This is the most fun I've had here."

Suddenly a woman walked in and Chibs looked like he was in shock.

"Who are you?" The woman looked at her. She had an irish accent and looked like she could kill her with just a look.

"Ava, I'm a friend."

"A _friend_?"

"It's not what you think, Fiona." Chibs said. "The wee girl is a friend, I'll explain later."

"Grace, I think it's time we left, you can visit Chibs some other day."

"Ok mom," Grace leaned over and gave Chibs a kiss and they went outside, Fiona staring at her the entire time.

She met Gemma in the corridor. "Visiting Chibs?"

"Yes, some women came, looked very pissed."

"What woman?"

"I think her name was Fiona."

"Oh shit." Gemma looked pretty pissed as well. "I have to run, I'll see the two of you later." She kissed her and ran off.

"Grace, do you know who Fiona is?"

"No."

"Do you know all of them at the garage?"

"Yes. I like all of them. They're all nice, they show me things, just like Clark. I like Happy the best."

"I think I like him the best as well."

"I know." Grace had a knowing look and Ava picked her up and gave her a kiss.

"What's with the sneaky face?"

"Nothing." She still looked extremely smug.

"Come on! Tell your mom." She tickled her, it always worked.

"He likes you too."

"He said that?" She liked to hear that.

"I asked him." Grace said and looked very pleased. "He thinks you're very pretty and he likes you."

"You asked him!"

"Yes."

Ava started to laugh. She wondered what other things Grace had asked Happy. She would have paid money to hear that conversation. "And he answered?"

"He always answers my questions. Always."

-o0o-

Happy didn't have time to go by the library and take advantage of the fact that Ava didn't have pantyhose that day. There would be other days.

It had been a total shit day, shootouts, lost guns, he was in a bad fucking mood, but it wasn't even close to the mood Clay was in.

He saw her the minute they walked inside, she looked tired. He didn't have time to even say hi, Clay immediately went for Jax.

Ava started to remember what family dinners could be, everyone was fighting. Tara went after Lyla and Gemma. Gemma was in a general bad mood. Grace was sitting next to Bobby, but she seemed sad as well. She knew something was wrong, it was bloody hard to miss. Ava sat down and took her in her lap, she needed her close. They both needed to be close to each other.

That's when all hell broke loose.

"Where the hell where you!" Clay walked in and directed the question at Jax. Accusations started flying around and Ava could hardly follow half of what they were talking about.

"Well, we almost got killed, trying to take back our guns man." Tig screamed to Bobby. 'Killed' Ava looked over at Happy but suddenly Tig pushed Bobby who immediately flew back at him.

Grace curled up into a ball in her lap. She could take a lot but whenever anything got violet this is how she reacted, her thumb in her mouth and curled up. This wasn't good, she didn't want her to see this but the only way out was right past the fight. She watched Happy break them up.

Opie said they helped him and Jax talked about payback.

"Excuse me!" Deputy Chief David Hale walked through the door. "Sorry to interrupt" he continued. "I figured I should tell you this in person. We just found Luanne Delaney off county 18, beaten to death. There is no other details right now." That was most definitely something Grace shouldn't have heard. God damn it! She wondered if Grace had met Luanne but she assumed that Happy hadn't taken her up to Caracara. She would cut off his balls if he had.

She looked over at Gemma, Luanne was her friend, she felt so bad for her. It was easy to see the second that the news sank in.

"I'm sorry," Hale said, then he turned and looked right at her. "Ava, I need to talk to you, in private, It's very important." She got up from the chair, she was worried. Whenever a deputy wanted to talk to her it was usually not good news.

This was a shit situation for her in every fucking way and she had to make a decision very fast. No matter what Hale wanted, it wasn't good and she didn't want Grace to hear it. Or let Grace see her own reaction to whatever Hale would say. Leaving her inside didn't seem like a good idea either. Tara reached for Grace and since she seemed to be calm, she handed Grace to her, assuring her she would be right back.

"What's going on?" She said when they where outside the door

"I had a call from San Francisco PD, they picked up Jonah yesterday, he was drunk. Since he's no longer on parole they can't do anything but they said it was important that you knew."

"Oh shit! Shit." She kneeled down. She could feel her insides turning and she had a ringing sound in her ears. Him drinking was bad, that was the step before drugs and on drugs was when his obsessions started and she was in real trouble. He knelt down next to her and put a hand on her back.

"They are keeping an eye on him, they'll contact me the second he seems to disappear."

"They always say that and they never do."

"I'll keep you informed, if I hear anything I'll let you know."

"Thank you."

"I can give you some protection, have someone stop by now and then, whatever you need."

"No, thank you. I'll be fine."

He gave her a card, "Call me, if there's anything. I'll do whatever I can to help you." She took the card and nodded. She knew she was panicking, but she just wanted to hold Grace, she didn't want to talk to Hale anymore.

The second she walked through the door again she heard a crash, Gemma had thrown down the plate with the steak on the table and everyone seemed to be mid fight. It was dead quiet for a few seconds and then she heard Grace.

"Mom?" She said with a quiet voice, looking at her, she was crying. Ava walked up to her and took her from Tara. "Was it about dad?"

"It's ok, Gracie, don't worry." She looked around, she had no idea what just happened and at the moment she didn't give a shit. She just wanted to get home, lock the door and take out the gun, it was definitely coming out of the wardrobe now.

"It's always about dad when the police wants to talk to you." Grace said and put her arms around Ava's neck.

"It's ok, Gracie, we'll be fine." She turned to the others in the room. "I'm sorry, I need to get home. I..." Yes, she was definitely panicking. She picked up her bag and on her way out, Happy stopped her.

"What's going on?"

"I'll explain later." She didn't want to do this in front of Grace. "I'll just take Grace home now, You can come by later." He looked at her and nodded.

-o0o-

Happy was riding toward Ava's. It was just shit all around, the guns, Luann was dead, Jax and Clay and the panic he had seen in Ava's face earlier. It was like she didn't even notice the fucking mess she was walking in on, she just picked up Grace and walked out. And Grace, 'it's always about dad when the police wants to talk to you'.

He was going to do time, there was no way of know hot much, but it was quite possible that it would be at least a couple of years. He had no idea how he was going to protect her when he was inside. Sure, the other's would keep an eye on her, but it wouldn't be the same.

He called her when he was outside her door and she opened, she still had that look on her face.

"How's Grace?"

"It's been a lot for her today. But she's sleeping."

He took her in his arms. "Wanna tell me what Hale wanted?"

"They picked up Jonah yesterday, drunk."

"And that's bad."

"Very bad, if he's drinking again it's just a matter of time before he starts using drugs. And that's when he becomes really dangerous." She still had panick in her eyes and he wanted it gone. He wanted her to understand that he wouldn't let anything happened to her.

"I'll keep you safe, you know that." He kissed her and she responded, putting her hands around his neck, pulling him even closer.

"Please, I need you." She whispered and took his hand, dragging him to the bedroom. Inside she pulled of his cut, throwing it on the chair, he pulled down the zipper on her dress, and about thirty seconds later they were naked on her bed, kissing, his hand was between her legs, circling her clit.

He wasn't prepared for her next move, she pushed him to his back, straddling him and slowly kissing her way down his body. Was she for real? She licked the entire length of his cock.

"Fuck! Ava!" trying to regain his sanity. "You don't have to do this."

She came up again, looking right into his eyes and smiled. "What was that you said to me, oh yes, if I touch you, it's because I like it and I want to touch you." She smiled and went down to his dick again. Smartass bitch, using his own words against him. That was his last clear thought for some time as she took his dick in her mouth.

She was good, she knew what she was doing and when he looked down at her she looked right into his eyes, and despite having his dick in her mouth, it looked like she was smirking. She worked that dick like a pro and he didn't want it to end with this.

"Babe, you need to stop." He finally managed to say. She let go and got up and in seconds, impale herself on him. "Jesus fucking Christ, Ava!" He caught her hips, guiding her, moving her up and down over his dick. She was so fucking tight and wet, driving him insane, sitting up giving him a perfect view of her. He moved one of his hands to her clit, enjoying the sigh of her rolling back her head and moan.

He pulled her down towards him and then flipped her around on her back, capturing her mouth with his, shoving his tongue in her mouth, sucking her lips. He felt her pussy, gripping him like a vice and moaning into his mouth. He gripped her ass, pushing harder and then felt the tingling along the spine. And the second after he came he remembered.

"Fuck!"

"What?" She managed to say while trying to catch her breath.

"Condom."

"It's ok, I'll get some morning-after pills. You better be clean."

"I am." He tested himself pretty regularly. "Besides, I can't even remember the last time I forgot a condom."

She was lying next to him with closed eyes and a slight smile on her lips. "Should I feel honored?"

"You should." She drove him insane, he hadn't thought about condom for a second. "You said you weren't very experienced. But you knew what you were doing."

"I should, he slapped me every time I did it wrong." Fuck! But he studied her for a while and she seemed ok. Maybe slapping isn't something you're upset about if someone's cuts up your entire back.

"I'm feeling kind of honored as well then."

"I'm scared." She rolled over to her side and leaned her head against him.

"I know babe, we'll figure this out." He pulled her closer. "You know I'll do time."

"I figured."

"It wont be yet in a while, so we have time."

"Ok."

"But you need to start using that gun. I don't want it in you wardrobe, I mean it Ava."

"It's not anymore."

"And don't you even think about running. I'm not kidding. You'll be safer here with me."

Ava stretched out, she felt more relaxed. Sex sure had it's advantages.

"I'm hungry. I'm gonna go get something to eat." She leaned over the edge of the bed and found her t-shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting something to eat."

"In the bed?"

"Yes." She looked at him. She didn't understand his horrified face. Then she did. This was one of his 'things'. He had those. No brushing your teeth outside of the bathroom was one of them, he had been very upset when she walked around while brushing her teeth in the morning. Especially when she rinsed her mouth in the kitchen.

"You can't eat in bed!" Most definitely one of his things! This could be fun.

"Watch me." She smiled and leaned over to give him a kiss. "It's my bed." She leaned back again to put on her t-shirt when he pulled out of her hand.

"No!"

"What?"

"If you're going to make a mess in the bed you can go into the kitchen naked."

"I can't do that, Grace..." She didn't want to do that, she never walked around naked. That was one of her things.

"Sleeps like a baby, don't try." He smiled and kissed her. "I wanna watch."

"You wanna watch me walk away naked?"

"I like your ass."

She tried to get the t-shirt again but he was holding his arm around her waist and the other arm stretched out, holding the t-shirt just out of her reach.

"Like my ass?"

"First thing I noticed."

She laughed. "Here I thought it was my shiny hair, pouty lips or maybe my stance when I held a bat."

"No, your ass." He smiled. "And I want you to show me."

"Flaunt it?"

"Yes." She glared at him and then got out of the bed and walked into the kitchen, took some pears and a bottle of water. Then she walked back to the bedroom.

"Satisfied?"

"Not really, you could have walked slower." He was still leaning against the wall behind the bed and she sat down next to him and when she tried to pull up the cover he held it. "The second thing I noticed was the tits."

"So you're going to watch them now?" She asked with a serious voice. She liked these games. When they teased each other. It was his way of teaching her to bite back, she knew that, but she liked it. She was more comfortable with this than some guy whispering sweet nothings in her ear. When he said things to her it was like he was stating facts that should be obvious to everyone.

"Yes, while you're eating in bed." He could hardly say it. As if she was doing something extremely disgusting.

"Water?" She asked, holding the bottle in front of him. He took it and drank from it before handing it back to her.

"I did notice those other things."

"What other things?" She asked before biting down into the pear. It was extremely juicy and she probably shouldn't eat it in bed. But she could go back on it now. He couldn't win so she pretended like it was nothing and kept eating.

"That you said."His eyes were fixated on the pear, he looked like he wanted to tear it from her hands.

She smiled, she would have loved to hear him say 'shiny hair', it would have been something. "What did I say?"

He wrapped his and in her hair and pulled it. "You shouldn't play games with me. I'm better at them."

"I have no doubt." She smiled and stared into his eyes while taking a big bite in the pear just to see him cringe.

Happy watched Ava sitting next to him, eating fruit, a very ripe pear and it was dripping everywhere. It was about to drive him insane. Who ate stuff like that in bed?

"I brought you one." She said and held up another pear. He just shook his head, glaring at her. She was teasing him and he loved it. He hadn't seen her blush once during the entire day. In fact, she had hardly blushed since the first time he fucked her. And even though she was cute when she did, she was sexy as fuck whit those teasing eyes. He liked sexy better.

"You shouldn't eat in bed."

"My bed, my rules." She said and took another bite, the juice dripping down. Some of it on her breast and he smiled, leaned forward and licked it off. She looked at him. "I thought you didn't want any pear."

He didn't answer and just shrugged. That's when he saw it, that look in her eyes that meant she was on to something, usually something that would end up with him getting horny as fuck. She leaned forward and took another bite and he saw the juice landing on her thigh. She leaned back and looked at him. He chuckled, leaned forward and licked that up as well, got up and looked at her again.

She laughed silently before taking another bite and he saw the juice sliding down between her breasts and down on her stomach. He moved to sit between her legs, grabbed on to her hips and pulled her down so she was lying flat on her back. Then he licked off the pear juice on her stomach, looked up at her to see her next move.

The teasing smile was on her lips and she met his look with raised eyebrows and bit down on the pear before throwing the pear over the edge of the bed. That should have pissed him off but he was too fascinated with those teasing, golden eyes.

"It didn't drip." He said and leaned over her.

She pointed to her lips. "No, but I'm all sticky around my mouth."

Her eyes hadn't left his since he licked her tit and he was getting horny as fuck. "Want me to fix it?" She nodded.

He carefully leaned over her and licked her chin and up around her mouth. She caught his tongue and sucked on it.

"Wanna take a shower with me?" She smiled when she let go. "To clean me up. It would drive you insane if I rubbed fruit juice all over the bed."

"It would." Bitch knew him pretty well already.

Turns out, it's quite possible to have sex while standing up in a bathtub and since they had already fucked up they didn't use a condom. He didn't ever want to use a condom with her again.

-o0o-

Ava looked at him, lying on his his back with one arm behind his head and she was lying on his other, his hand absently stroking her back.

"Wanna tell me what was up with you yesterday?"

She sighed and kissed him on his chest. "Just... feels like I'm on the wrong side now."

He turned towards her and his face was suddenly very close to hers. "Wrong side?"

"Like I switched side. Feels wrong." She avoided to look at him.

"That's not all." He said and raised her head and made him look him into the eyes. "Tell me."

"When you disappeared I realized that I'm depending on you. I felt panic again and... I promised myself that I wouldn't do that. Depend on someone to help me."

"You're not a weaker person for getting help."

"Like you get help." She said with a smile and kissed his chin.

"All the time. That's what we do, help each other." He gave her careful peck on her mouth. He might have point in that. They all seemed very close.

"Can I ask you one thing, or two?"

"You can ask." The double meaning of that statement didn't allude her. She could ask but he wouldn't necessarily answer.

"Do you make money on drugs or selling women?"

He smiled and gave her another kiss. "No."

"Ok."

"That all?" He mumbled into her hair.

"All I need to know."

"Go to sleep, Babe. I'll be here in the morning."


	10. She tickled me

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters_

_Thank you for the Reviews, favs and Alerts that keeps coming in. And I hope I've sent 'thank you's' to all the reviewers._

* * *

**Chapter 10: She tickled me**

"I wish you came earlier." Grace said while eating her toast, swinging her legs.

"What?" Hap asked as he sat down on the other side of the table.

"To watch TV with me, mom doesn't watch TV." She drank the juice. "But I like that you're here in the mornings. Mom never gives me toast and juice."

"Why not?"

"Says I get sugar rushes." Grace said with a huge smile and Happy laughed.

"Guessin' you don't need the extra energy."

"That's what mom says." She sat still for a while and by now he knew what that meant. Therewas a serious question on the way. "Can I ask you something?"

"You know it, Sugar."

"Why where you in jail?"

Crap. He had a hunch that it was coming, but he wasn't sure how to handle this. Ava had told him that simplifying the truth was generally the best way to answer Grace's questions. So, how do you simplify running into a church meeting with drawn weapons? "I did something bad."

"Why?" She kept looking at him.

"I needed to. Sometimes you need to do things, for others. But don't you go and do bad things."

"Ok." Grace said with a smile before jumping down from the chair and coming up to him, climbing in to his lap. He was in a tank top and he noticed her reading his tattoo. But just as her mom, she didn't ask about it. "Mom said she liked you best of the people at the garage."

"I hope so." Happy laughed. Then he saw her looking embarrassed. "What?"

"Nothin'." She said and jumped down from he lap but he caught her and put her back down in it.

"Don't you 'nothin' me."

"She tickled me."

Sometimes he was stunned at how much alike they were. She had the exact same expressions as Ava and she had done something she shouldn't have done. "Why?"

"She tickled me so I would tell our secret."

"What secret?" He wasn't sure what she meant.

"That you think she's very pretty and that you like her."

"Don't worry, Sugar. I think she knew that. And I think you wanted her to know that."

"She looked happy when I told her." Grace looked happier as well. "You should probably wake her up. Will you take me to school today?"

"You know it." She got up on her knees in his lap and gave him a hug. He heard the door to the bedroom open behind him and felt and arm on his shoulder.

"Morning." She mumbled in his ear before giving Grace a kiss. "What are you two plotting?"

"Happy is taking me to school."

"I had a feeling he would. Mary will pick you up, or Gemma if that's ok with you?"

"I like Gemma, so that's ok." Grace jumped down and ran out of the kitchen.

"Gemma?" Happy asked as he got up from the chair and walked up to Ava.

"Yes. She offered to pick Grace up now and then. Said she could take her to the garage or to her place."

He moved very close to her and noticed her pupils dilating. "Ever gonna tell me what you and Gemma are up to?"

"We're not 'up to', anything."

"You're a bad lier. " He mumbled as he pressed her against the counter. "There's something going on."

"Yes, but we're not up to something." She looked up at him. "Could you maybe..."

"Maybe?" He kissed her cheek.

"Trust me, that..." He was at her ear now and she trailed off for a few seconds. "Ok, I can't focus when you do that." She sounded very annoyed and he laughed.

"Good." He hugged her. "I'll trust you."

"It's nothing to worry about, really. And... I just... I can't talk about it." She mumbled.

"Ok."

"Ok?"

"If you give me a kiss." And she put her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss. He wouldn't have pressured her anyway since she would tell Gemma and Gemma would have his balls. But he wasn't going to tell her that. "And give me head at your work." He whispered in her ear.

Ava was stunned for a few seconds than looked at his smile. She laughed. "If we do it in the Government Print section."

"Kinky." He kissed her neck and she was extremely turned on by now.

"If the definition of 'kinky' is doing it somewhere where you haven't I'm sure anywhere in the library would be ok." She pushed him away and walked into the bedroom but smiled at him over her shoulder.

He followed her, "I've gotten head in a library, in high school."

"I'm sure that's the only reason why you were there." He

"Sure was. Still only the reason I go to the library. That and to get laid." He was searching the floor for his clothes.

"Well, we're going to have to have sex then. Need to be able to top what you did in high school."

"In the Government Print?" He put on his t-shirt and the cut.

"Yes."

"It's a date." He said and gave her one last kiss before taking Grace to school.

"The things I do to get people to read." She yelled at him and heard him laughing in the hallway.

-o0o-

She decided to see if she could find Tara during lunch

"Hi, everything ok?" Tara asked.

"I was going to ask about, ehrm, birth control."

Gemma just smiled at her. "Well, I see that's going well. I'm happy for you darlin'."

"What did I miss, why are we congratulating her to having sex?"

"Cause she didn't for quite some time."

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry." Tara said. "I didn't think about that. Do you think you need to see a gynecologist?"

"I honestly don't think I would be able to do that." Ava admitted, she might be ok with Happy there, but anyone else would probably freak her out.

"I can get you a female one."

That could work. Still a problem though. "Thing is, I'd prefer it if it wasn't on any records. But that's ok, I have people to contact for that."

"No, it's ok, I'll help you of you're ok with that. I'm in so much shit anyway, can't get any worse. Come back in a couple of hours."

"Wanna go shopping with me while you wait?" Gemma asked.

"Sure."

They were walking on, and around, main street.

"What did Hale want?"

"They had picked up Jonah in San Francisco, drunk, the PD had called here to let me know."

"He gets worse when he drinks?"

"To say the least."

"You know we'll keep you safe."

"Thanks Gemma." She suddenly realized. "I'm really sorry about Luann."

"Thanks sweetie." Gemma gave her a quick hug.

They went to the pharmacy and when she had made her purchase she went outside to wait for Gemma, drinking the cola she just bought. Suddenly she heard a voice behind her.

"Hi there, doll." Only one man had ever called her doll and she reacted without even reflecting on it and threw her cola in the direction of the voice. As soon as the bottle left her hand she realized it wasn't Jonah, it was Bobby and the bottle hit him right smack on his nose.

"Fuck!" He screamed and she ran up to him.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry Bobby! I freaked out."

"You don't say." His nose was bleeding and Gemma came running from the pharmacy.

"What happened?"

"He called me doll."

"A slight overreaction, don't you think?" Gemma said while pressing tissues to Bobby's face.

"No, no it's... Jonah used to call me that and..." She looked at Bobby, trying to stop the bleeding from his nose with the tissues Gemma had given him. "... I'm so sorry Bobby."

"It's ok. I didn't mean to scare you. Was just going to say Hi."

"She's a bit jumpy, Hale had some bad news for her as well."

"I understand. No worries. I need to get back to the club."

"I'll give you a lift." Ava said. "You won't be able to see properly with that, your eyes are going to tear up for quite some time."

"How would you know that?" He said and when she raised her eyebrows at him he just looked down on the ground. "Oh, sorry. I'd appriciate it."

She got into the car and Bobby got inot the passanger seat. "This is a really nice car."

"Thanks. I love it, she's my second baby." Bobby just laughed.

"I can relate, I have similar feelings to my bike."

-o0o-

Happy was sitting at the club, they had taken care of some whores and were waiting for intel on the crank place when Bobby walked in, holding blooded tissues against his nose.

"What the hell happened to you?" Half-sack asked

"His girl threw a coke bottle at me." He said, pointing at Happy. Happy got up from the chair.

"What did you do?"

Bobby held up the hand he wasn't pressing against his nose. "Hey, just a misunderstanding, I saw her and was going to say Hi, which I did, adding the word doll. She freaked out and threw the bottle at me."

"Why?" Clay asked.

"Apparently that's what that guy used to call her." He looked at Happy again. "She's a bit jumpy."

"She'll be fine."

Happy was pleased that she had reacted in a good way, even if it happened to be towards the wrong person.

-o0o-

He managed to get over to Ava's place early that day. He was very please to notice she opened the door with a gun in her hand.

"Good girl." He said and gave her kiss.

"You people are crazy, congratulating people and praising them for the strangest things." Ava laughed.

"What else have people congratulated you for today, good throwing arm?" He smiled

"He told you that?"

"It was hard to miss, he was bleeding when he came in." Happy said. "Did you get those pills?"

"Yeah, and I got an IUD." She said with a smile.

That was very good news, after having her twice without a condom he wasn't looking forward to going back to use one.

"Nice," He smiled back at her "How long?"

"About a week."

"Great." He smiled and pulled her towards him, kissing her.

"You missed our date." She had a fake pouty look. He liked that. She had been waiting for him.

"Didn't set a date. Wanna keep you on your toes at work."

"You smell like a bonfire." She said, eyeing him carefully.

"I'll take a shower, I brought some clothes."

He didn't want to tell her that the reason he smelled of smoke was that he blew up a trailer crank-lab. Or that he had kicked in doors on a motel where hookers with pretty much bare asses were giving blow jobs or getting fucked by fat old men. She didn't need to know that shit. Thing was, it wasn't a coincident that Grace always knew what was going on and when someone was lying or not telling the whole truth, she had it all from her mom. And while Grace was a kid and not always understood the significance of the things she noticed, Ava wasn't and she knew a lot more than she should or he even understood. He just wasn't sure how to deal with it.

If this thing continued, and that was what he was planning for, he would make her his official old Lady and then it would be ok to tell her everything. But he didn't feel ready for that yet and he was pretty sure she wasn't ready for it either. Didn't mean it wasn't going to happen.

The next morning he woke from his phone ringing. It was Jax, Cara Cara was burning. He got up there meeting Half-sack and Bobby. Jax came walking towards them, he was so pissed it looked like he was going to explode at any fucking second.

"Talk to Quinn, tell him I wanna transfer."

The shit just kept piling up. And he smelled like a bonfire again.

-o0o-

Ava was sitting in the office at the library when someone knocked at the door. When she opened the door there was a blond woman holding up a badge.

"My name is agent June Stahl, do you have a couple of minutes?"

"Sure, come on in." She held up the door and agent Stahl walked inside.

"Is this regarding Jonah?"

"No, it isn't." She smiled, "It's regarding Mr Lowman. Your... boyfriend?" She said the last word as if she at the same time was asking if it was correct. "And the Sons of Anarchy."

"Well, Agent Stahl," She said with a smile in return "I doubt that I would have anything of interest to tell you. But you are welcome to ask."

Stahl kept smiling, but it never really reached her eyes. "I can see why it would be... tempting, for a woman in you situation to get into bed with an MC-club."

Ava was feeling sick, this was a class A bitch, she had dealt with quite a few of them over the years. Dealing with authorities had thought her a pretty damn sad lesson, it wasn't the men who judged you the hardest, it was the women. Simply because they couldn't admit that you didn't have to be a complete idiot and extremely week woman to fall for the wrong man. They didn't want to admit that it could happened to anyone, because if it could, it could happen to them.

"Did you have a question?" She wasn't going to chat away with her, if she wanted to know something she would have to flat out ask her.

"Is it correct that your brother is working at HR Motors in New York?"

Why the hell did she want to know that? "Yes."

"Are you aware that the New York Chapter of Sons of Anarchy uses that garage on a regular basis?"

"No." She was genuinely surprised, she hadn't known that. She was even more surprised that Clark hadn't mentioned it. Not that it would have mattered to her.

"How did you and Mr. Lowman meet?"

Sly bitch, she probably had a pretty good idea but she couldn't say she had handed in her car, there was no records of that happening. With all the problems with the car insurance and addresses she hadn't bothered with it, it was damn near impossible to keep underground with an insured car.

"Need dating tip?" Still smiling, her cheeks were starting to hurt due to all the smiling.

"No, just curious how a librarian ends up as the Old Lady of the enforcer of a MC-club." Agent Stah was studying her closely when she said it. Probably to find out what she knew. If she was shocked.

Yup, her cheeks were hurting like a motherfucker right now. Ava wasn't shocked, she wasn't stupid and those smiley faces was keeping the score for something. And she knew what an enforcer was, she had never heard about old ladies though. Agent Stahl didn't stop there though.

"You know, event though being protected by the government doesn't means that you are obligated to help us, we tend to do a better job if we feel that the protectee is grateful."

That did it for her. Stupid fucking bitch. "Have you read my file?"

"Yes." She smiled, probably thinking she had won. Like the government had done anything for her, they kept fucking up and she got cut up for it.

"Then I'm sure you understand how grateful I am." Her cheeks were killing her by now so she got out of the chair and opened the office door. "I'm sorry. I have work to do."

"Of course you do. I'll just stop by some other day, if I have any other questions."

When she closed the door she needed a few minutes to collect herself. Then she got the prepaid from the bag and called Happy.

-o0o-

Happy was standing looking at a trunk full of bullets when the phone rang. It was Ava, she had never called him during the day, he called her, but she didn't call him.

"What's wrong?"

"_I just had a visit from an Agent Stahl. Anyone you know?"_

"Stahl! What the fuck did she want?" That got the attention of the people around him.

"_Wanted to know about you and the Sons. Told me I should be 'grateful' for the things the government was doing for me." _He had to give it to his girl, she was good at sarcasm.

"What else did she say?"

"_Pretty much that if I didn't cooperate they might slip up and accidently tell Jonah where I am and that she understood how it was tempting for a woman in my position to become an Old Lady to and enforcer. Not flat out but I think that was the gist of it. I don't even know what the fuck an Old Lady is."_

"Shit. I need you to come down here."

"_I can't do that, Happy, I'm working."_

"Tell them you're sick, you need to get down here."

"_I'm not going to drop everything because of this. I just called to let you know. We can talk about it tonight." _Why the fuck did she have to be so fucking stubborn?

"I'm not kidding. I need your ass here, so pack up you shit, get in the car and come here."

"_And I'm telling you; we can talk later. I need to work."_

"You're a fucking librarian, what could possibly be going on there that can't wait until tomorrow?"

"_Fuck you!"_ And she hung up.

"She hung up!" He couldn't fucking believe her. "Annoying, stubborn, fucking woman!" He yelled to the phone in his hand.

"Smooth Killer, very smooth." Tig said. He just gave him a look, fucking prick.

"What did Stahl say?" Clay asked.

"That she needed to cooperate, that if she didn't they might accidentally slip up with Jonah."

"Fucking bitch!" Opie slammed his fist in the car.

"What else?" Clay wanted to know everything and he wasn't sure how he would respond to the question that was coming.

"She said she understood how it would be tempting for a woman in her position to become the Old Lady of and enforcer."

"Shit!" Half-sack said.

"How did she react to that?" Tig asked with glowing eyes, he just fucking loved this.

"She said she didn't even know what the fuck and Old Lady was." That hadn't been what he expected from her. He expected her to ask him if it was true not what an Old Lady was.

Clay and Half-sack started to laugh, he just looked at them, rubbing his head. They better not fucking ask.

"Out of curiosity." Here it came, Clay was going to ask him if he planned on making her an Old Lady. "What did she say before hanging up on you?"

"Fuck you."

"What? Just curious." Clay said.

"No, that's what she said." They all looked at him and then burst into a laughter. "I don't think any bitch has ever said that to me."

"Go talk to her, before I have another member with a coke-bottle in his face." Clay was still laughing. "Besides, we need to know what Stahl is up to and it didn't sound like she was coming here to tell us."

He just laughed and shook his head.

-o0o-

Ava was pissed as hell, bloody asshole, screaming at her to get her ass somewhere over the phone, dropping everything for him. She was stamping papers and books, it was a very relieving thing to do when you felt like hitting someone.

"Do I need to worry about that stamp ending up on my nose?"

She looked up and saw Tara, standing in the door. They would never let that coke incident go.

"No, sorry, I just screamed at Happy on the phone and some bitch ATF-agent was here, threatening me."

"Stahl?"

"That would be the one."

"Yeah, she's running wild again. Had a visit from her this morning. Be careful, she's a mean bitch."

"I noticed."

Tara sat down in one of the visitors chair and a smile spread in her face. "You screamed at Happy?"

"He was being an ass." She said but what she really wondered was how informed Tara was about life in the club. She wasn't Gemma but Ava would have guessed that she did knew quite a lot.

"Wow, wonder if any woman has ever done that."

"What on earth is an Old Lady?" She might as well ask.

"You don't know?"

"No, Stahl said it would be tempting for someone like me to be one. I don't even know what it is."

"It's the girlfriend of a member, means she's off limits for the other members. Has to be faithful to the man, the others needs to respect an Old Lady. That's the short version at least. They usually have a crow tattooed somewhere."

"You have one?"

"Yes, on my lower back." She almost looked embarrassed when she said it.

"What, like a skank-stamp?"

"Shut up!" Tara laughed.

Some thing else Tara said, or rather didn't say hit Ava. "The men doesn't need to be monogamous?"

"It's complicated."

"I bet."

"You can set your own rules, you know."

She didn't have energy to talk about this right now. Him having sex with others wasn't something she wanted to think about. They had never talked about it and her very limited experience with relationships made it hard for her to know what "normal" rules really was. But even with that limited experience she knew that it was the normal thing to accept cheating. And she didn't want him to do the tings he did to her to other women.

"I'm sure this isn't what you came for?" She couldn't think of a more subtle way to change the subject.

"No, It's about Gemma."

"What about her?"

"Has she talked to you, about what happened?"

"A couple of times." She had, not just the first time when she came home to her, they had a coffee and talked some and once she called her.

"Good."

"She'll be fine. Eventually."

"There's a lot of shit going on. Jax and Clay are fighting and Jax is talking about going Nomad."

"I didn't know. I'm sorry."

There was a knock on the door again, she got up and opened it, it was Happy.

"Hey." It was all he said. She opened the door wider to show him that she wasn't alone.

"I need to go." Tara got up and gave her a hug on the way out. "We'll talk later, take care."

"You too." She closed the door behind her.

"Tell me what else she said, and what you said. All of it." Happy said as soon as the door closed behind Tara.

She told him the entire conversation from start to finnish.

"Do you have any questions?" Happy said, carefully.

"Not really, Tara gave me the basic info about Old Ladies."

"And about me?"

"No, anything you want to ask?"

"Like what?"

"If I'm only with you because I think you can protect me?"

"I know you're not." He smiled. "You're with me because I make you come, hard. You're not going to ask me about what she said about me?"

"I'm not with you only because you can make me come." She smiled. "And I knew that about you, there have been some hints. To say the least."

"Like what?"

"The text on you bike, on your neckline and the smiley faces."

Happy just looked at her. It wasn't much she didn't notice. He would have to be very careful around her. He looked down on her legs.

"I do have one question." He said.

"What?" She looked at him.

"Did you really say 'fuck you' to me?"

"I did." She smiled at him. "And if you ever try to order me around like that again, I'll say it again."

Sassy, fucking bitch.

"So if I tell you to take off your fucking panties right now, you'll say it?" She would either have to follow his orders or she wouldn't get any. He felt very please with how he had turned that around.

She walked passed him, locked the door and walked back to were she had been standing. He could hardly wait. She hoisted up her skirt.

"Fuck you. If you want them down, you pull them down yourself."

For a few seconds he was startled and then he laughed. To smart for her own good, in so many ways. But he walked up to her, knelt down and put his fingers in the hem of her boy shorts and pulled them down. He got up and looked at her.

"So what you're saying is; instead of ordering you around, I should just do it?"

"You're always welcome to try."

He lifted her up and sat her ass down on her desk while kissing her. The things this woman did to him, he could be furious with her but the second he saw her, it disappeared.

"Condom, Happy."

"So what, now you're going to order me around?" He teased her. She just kissed him and he pulled out and condom, rolled it on and then sank into her.

It was a quickie, but really good.

"I still want you to fuck me in the Government Print section, would give me something to smile about when I went there." She said as she pulled her panties back on.

He laughed, stock raving mad, that's what this chick was. "You've never said 'fuck' before. I mean, that we're fucking."

"I'm pretty sure that what we just did was a fuck."

"Sure was." He kissed her nose "Don't worry about Stahl, or Jonah."

"Ok."

He went back to the club. Clay and Bobby met him.

"You two ok?"

"Yeah." He downloaded them with the conversation.

"She did good, your girl." Clay said.

"She did." He agreed.

"Don't worry about her, we'll take care of them." Bobby said. "We have a vote coming up, club only."

"I know."

"We'll see you tomorrow." Clay gave him a wave and they walked towards the Chapel.

He went into his dorm to pack some more clothes, he needed to have some extra at her house, there wasn't really any point in keeping them in the dorm. He never slept there anymore and he had no immediate plans on doing it.


	11. Your girl knew

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters._

_I'm still extremely thankfull for your favs, alerts and reviews, even for just bothering to read this._

_I want to give a **very special thank you** to some people who relentlessly keep reviewing. In no particular order: razzajazz, ILoveAnime89, Venetiangirl92, dark-lelu, HermioneandMarcus, Dahlia Rose-Marie, AngelsofHeavenandHell, otte1978, wishuy. You people are AWESOME and loads of love to you!_

* * *

**Chapter 11: Your girl knew**

Grace was still up when he came to Ava.

"Hey, Sugar." He said when he caught her and picked her up in the hallway. "Got good news for you. Chibs is out from the hospital."

"Can I go to the clubhouse tomorrow?"

"Probably." He gave her a kiss. He followed Ava into the living room.

"Wanna watch a movie with me?" Grace asked and he carried her to the couch and sat down. She was still in his lap.

"Sure."

They watched a weird movie about monsters scaring kids for energy. The child in the movie reminded him of Grace.

A while after the movie ended Grace was in bed and Ava came back into the living room and laid down in the sofa with her book. He watched a movie and she read for a while.

"Do you think this is what normal people do?" She said all of a sudden and when he looked at her the book was face down on her chest.

"I have no fucking idea." He took her book, leaned over her and kissed her. "This is the most normal shit I've had."

"Shit?" She smiled. "Think normal people fuck at work?" It sounded like just another question. Like she honestly wanted to know.

"They should." He kissed her again. "I bet you worked better in the afternoon."

"I did. Loads of energy." She put her arms around his neck. "I should write a letter to the government. 'The beneficial effects on economy of regular fucks during work hours."

"Sound official enough." He laughed and slipped his hand underneath her sweater and pulled it up.

She pulled the sweater off by herself and helped him when he went for her jeans. In someways she was like a teenage boy. It was never enough for her and he wasn't complaining. He knew why, she wanted to make sure that it was still good. Not even mentioning that she had been years without, she had some catching up to do and he was very willing to help her with that.

Ava was naked and she was working on getting Happy's clothes of as well, he was sitting up leaning against the backrest and every time she tried to take of his cut he just smiled and took away her hands.

"Are you going to have sex with me while wearing clothes again?" She mumbled while unbuckling his pants. "You've already done that once today."

"Wanna watch you naked in my lap." He smiled and got up just enoug for her to pull down his pants so she could grab him. She watched him while she was stroking him and leaned over to kiss his face. He reached into his pocked for the condom and then nodded towards his dick.

"Get on there."

She did as he asked and was carefully moving up and down his full length while he was guiding her by holding her hips and kissing her everywhere, taking extra notice of her breasts and nipples. When she felt herself coming she put her arms around his neck and held him hard.

"Oh my God, Hap." She moaned. For some reason she liked it, being naked and him in clothes, smelling him and the leather, the hands all over her body, his jeans who was rubbing against the inside of her legs and his lips kissing her collarbone and up the neck. She finally stopped moving since it was overwhelming.

"Come on, Babe. Don't stop." She felt his hands grabbing her butt-cheeks and moving her over his dick. It didn't take that much and she came, biting down on his neck to stop herself from screaming.

He gave her a moment, turned her around on her back in the couch and was above her. Still kissing her body. "Done?" He asked with raised eyebrows and a teasing smile.

"No." She pulled him down and he came inside again. When he finally came, with a "Oh my fucking God." into her neck she was extremely satisfied.

They were still for some time and when he got up she noticed the bite mark on his neck.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry!" She was not proud of that. Actually felt really bad about it.

"What?" He asked while pulling up his jeans.

"I bit you." She said and drew her fingers over the mark.

"I know. I liked it." He gave her a kiss. "I'm usually the one doing the biting." She felt herself starring at him. He used to bite. "Not that hard." He said and touched her scars. "Just a nib, like the one you did."

"You liked it when I did that?"

"Oh yes." He pulled her up to her feet and put his arms around her waist. "Like I said. I'm usually the one doing it."

"You've never done that to me."

"No. I didn't think you'd like it."

She stood still for a while. "I don't know. Probably not if you hadn't given me a warning." She started to smiled, he liked it? "So you _want_ me to bite you?"

"Babe, feel free to do whatever you can think of. I'm pretty sure I've done most of it at least once before."

She started to laugh. "You are such a cocky bastard!" She hit him in the chest and picked up her sweatshirt and he took it from her before she even managed to stand up straight.

"No." He smacked her ass. "Now, walk ahead of me to the bathroom."

"Wanna watch my ass?"

"Always." He smiled and she turned around and walked towards the bathroom, really slowly.

-o0o-

The morning after Quinn called and Happy went to meet with him just north of Charming. Jax had called Quinn and said he wasn't going Nomad and Quinn wanted Happy to be ready to ride out. He had some business he needed him to take care of, things he had planned to let Jax do.

"I know you have a girl in Charming, heard some rumors. I won't keep you long."

"It's ok."

"Maybe you should think about transferring permanently to Redwood."

"I might." He didn't want to talk about Ava.

"Anyway, let Jax know I'm not pissed or anything, and tell them to give me a call if they need anything."

"Sure, talk to you later, Prez"

He went back to Charming and they were all just then coming out of church. Clay motioned him to come inside.

"Just talked to Quinn, said to let you know that you could give him a call if you needed anything."

"We're gonna need him."

"So what's up, why did Jax change his mind?"

"Gemma told us yesterday that she wasn't in a car accident the night of Bobbys party. Weston and two other guys jumped her, told her to tell us to stop selling guns to color."

"Shit!"

"Have you heard anything about this?"

"What? No, why should I?"

"They raped her."

A thousand thoughts went through Happy's mind. Fucked up fucking people, he was fucking fed up with these men, threating their women, raping them. When he landed again he noticed Clay, looking at him.

"I'm sorry, Prez." What else could he say? "What's the plan?"

"Your girl knew."

"Ava?"

"Apparently she's been a great help to Gemma, they've talked."

"I didn't know. I knew they were up to something but..."

"I believe you. Don't worry." Clay held up his hand. "I just wanted you to know that I'm grateful. She's a god girl, Gemma thinks the world of her. I was always set on protecting her, but I need you, and her, to know, that whatever it takes, she's on our watch now. No matter what happens with the two of you."

"I'm not leaving her."

"I'm not saying that you are. I'm just saying that she's a friend of the club. I'll make sure that everyone knows."

"Thanks." That would help, in many ways.

Clay got up. "Gives you time to gather your balls and make her your old lady." He said with a smile. "Come on, I'll fill you in on the plan."

-o0o-

Ava got out of the car outside the garage later in the afternoon.

"Hey!" She heard behind her and turned around to see Bobby.

"Oh, hi. How's the nose?" It didn't look too bad, at least that's what she tried to tell herself.

"No problem, don't worry about it." He smiled. "You here for Sunshine?"

"Sunshine? She's getting a new nickname everyday."

"She tends to light up a room when she walks into it." Bobby walked next to her towards the clubhouse.

"Yes, she does."

"Clay wants to have a word with you." The statement made her halt. Bobby noticed that she was no longer next to her and turned around. "No need to worry, at all."

"Ok." She picked up the pace again. "Is Happy here?"

"Yes, but just talk to Clay first. You've got nothing to worry about."

They walked into the clubhouse and she saw Happy next to Jax, they both looked at her and Happy gave her a nod. All of a sudden she felt like she maybe should be really damn worried. Grace ran up to her and she gave her a hug.

"Hi, Sweetie. Have you had a good time?"

"Yes."She gave her a kiss. When she looked up she saw Clay standing in the door to the room she knew they called the Chapel. He motioned her to come and she put Grace down. "Could you wait here honey? I'll be back in a little while."

"Ok." Grace said but she studied her. "Are you going to be ok?"

"Clay just want to have a quick word with your mom, nothing to worry about." Bobby said.

"I'll be fine, honey. Don't worry." She gave her another kiss and then walked through the doors and heard Clay close them behind her.

"Have a sit."

She looked around in the room, the table was huge with the familiar reaper carved in the center. She pointed at one of the chairs. "Is it ok if I sit here?"

He smiled. "You can sit anywhere. This isn't church, we're just talking."

"Ok." She sat down and Clay sat in the chair at the end of the table.

"Last night Gemma told me..." He trailed off for a few seconds. "what happened." She could only nod. There wasn't much to say. "She told me about you as well. That you've been a great help to her."

"I just listened."

"Sometimes that's all it takes. But I'm guessing you know that better than me." He finally managed to look at her. "You helped my wife, the Queen. She means a lot to the members of this club and everything to me. I'm making you an official friend of the club."

She sat still for a while. "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I'm not sure I understand what that means."

He smiled. "Seeing kangaroos?"

She laughed. "Yes, something like that."

"You're a friend of The Sons of Anarchy. Family. If you ever need help, whatever it is, we'll help you. No matter what. No questions asked. Not just in Charming, everywhere. They'll know who you are. I'm doing this, not only because you helped Gemma but because I know it's something you wouldn't use lightly. I know I can trust you to not take advantage of it."

This was high praise, she knew that and she felt very honored. She had no idea what Gemma had said about her but it meant a lot.

"Wow! I don't know what to say. Thank you." She smiled at him and eventually started to laugh. "I'm sorry I'm just so relieved. I wasn't sure what to expect when Bobby said you wanted to talk to me. And that I have even more people to turn to."

"We'll take care of you. Even if we go inside before we managed to solve... your situation, you'll be safe."

Ava wasn't sure if she wanted to know what 'solve' meant in this specific case.

"Thank you. You have no idea what that means to me. I've had people to help me but no-one to keep me safe. It's... a strange feeling." She put her hand on his. "So, thank you."

"Thank you. For being there for my wife when she needed you."

She squeezed his hand. "She'll be fine. She's a fighter"

"Oh, I know that." He nodded absently. "It's going to be hectic for a while."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Keep your man in a good mood." He got up.

"There's a quote by William Blake that I never liked. It's starting to grow on me though. I can see another meaning of it now. 'Active evil is better than passive good'."

"Active evil is better than passive good." He nodded again. "I like it."

"Thought you would."

-o0o-

Happy kept looking toward the Chapel. He knew what Clay wanted, tell her that she was a friend of the club. As much as he liked it he would still have preferred to be in there with her, she looked so nervous when she came inside. But she wasn't his Old Lady and this was between the president and the new 'family'-member.

It took them a while and he could see her through the half open shades. Gemma came into the clubhouse and stood next to him and Jax.

"She in there?"

"Yeah." Jax said.

They got up but were still talking. Finally Clay put his arm around her shoulders and they came out. Tig and Bobby were the first who came up to them and they gave her a hug. Chibs had Grace in his arms but managed to give her a hug anyway. They all surrounded her and he realized how small she really was. Gemma gave her a hug and whispered something in her ear that made her smile and stroke Gemma's cheek. She turned her eyes towards him and he caught her in a hug and kissed her forehead. He just hoped those Crow Eaters noticed and stayed the fuck away from her.

"Mom, Tig is teaching me poker."

"Oh? Are you winning?"

"She's really god." Tig said. "Won quite a few hands, good at bluffing."

"She sure is." Ava smiled and looked at Grace. "Clark taught her poker about a year ago."

Tig looked startled for a few seconds and then he caught Grace as she tried to run away. "Oh you little rascal. I'm going to get you for that."

"Noooo!" She screamed and laughed. "Let me be or I'll bring a doll next time!" Happy laughed, she had found out that Tig was scared of dolls and she found it hilarious.

He gave Ava another hug. "Wanna go home?" He whispered in her ear.

"Yeah. I'll take the car. She'll probably wanna go with you."

"Cause a Dyna has more style."

"Shut up!" When they got out of the clubhouse she gave him a kiss. "I need to go by Mary's house. I was going to bring her..."

"I got her. I'll take her home. Take all the time you need."

"Ok."

He walked her to her car. "What did Gemma say?"

"None of you business." She smiled and bumped him with her hip. As they got to the car he pinned her to it.

"Tell me."

"She said 'welcome to the family'." She put her arms around his waist. "Are you pissed? For not telling you."

"No. You couldn't have done anything different."

"I know. Just wanted to make sure that you knew."

"I'll see you at home, Babe."

He watched the car drive away and went to find Grace. Clay was waiting for him. "She gave me a quote. Is that something she does often?"

"Reads a lot." He shrugged. She could probably find a proper quote for any situation. "What did she say?"

"Active evil is better than passive good." Clay smiled. "William Blake."

They stood silent for a while. "I like that." Tig finally said. "Sums it up."

-o0o-

Ava was running really late. She had called Happy and he said it was ok. They were watching some movie and Grace had eaten.

She came thorugh the door and heard the TV and snoring. When she came into the living room she saw Happy on his back, sleeping with Grace on his chest. She was sleeping as well. They both only had jeans on and Grace's back was covered with a snake, apparently they had done "tattoos" again.

Happy woke up when she gave him a kiss.

"We fell asleep."

"I can see that." She leaned over to look at the huge snake on Grace's back. "Tell me that's not waterproof."

Happy laughed and got up from the couch, still holding Grace and carried her to her room. "Come on, Sugar. To bed." He said when she woke up and whined.

"She needs to brush her teeth."

"They won't fall out if she skips it one night."

Ava sighed and followed into Grace's room, took off the rest of her clothes and pulled the cover over her.

"She needs to brush her teeth every night, Happy." She put her arms around his waist while pushing him out to the hallway. "Ok?"

"Ok." He gave her a kiss.

"Thank you. For helping me."

"You're welcome. And it's waterproof pen."

"I'm going to eat in bed now. Then I'll walk around the entire apartment while I brush my teeth. Just so you know."

Happy wrapped her hair around his fists and pulled her head back. "Naked?"

"Would it be more ok if I was?"

"If you're naked, all I can think of is you ass and tits."

"I'll keep that in mind." She kissed him and started to pull off her clothes.

-o0o-

Happy woke up in the morning with Ava wrapped around him. And he liked it. It still freaked him out sometimes, how he felt about her. At the same time he couldn't imagine her with anyone else without feeling furious. She was his.

He stroke the hair out of her face and she sighed.

"Babe."

"Mhmmm?"

"I need to get up."

"Five minutes." She mumbled and kissed his chest and hugged him tighter. "Please?"

"Come and have breakfast with me instead."

She sighed again, she sat up and pulled a t-shirt of her head. "Ok, but you're making the coffee."

He pulled her back down and kissed her neck, jaw and up to her ear before whispering. "Are you giving me orders?"

Her eyes had that shine, he was crazy about it, about all of her. She smiled and moved up to kiss him. That's when they heard bare feet on the floor in the hallway.

"Happy." He heard Grace say in a low voice. Another girl he couldn't stay pissed at for long, even if she was a total cock-block at times.

"Were both up." Ava said and Grace came into the bedroom and jumped into the bed. Ava gave him a quick kiss before she went to the bathroom.

"So I'm not getting toast and juice today?" She sighed.

"Doesn't look like it, Sugar." He said as he got up and put on his clothes.

They had breakfast together and Ava looked very tired. As he was about to leave he pulled her out of the chair.

"Go back to bed. I'll be back in a couple of hours, one hour if you're lucky."

"I'll do it if you come back to bed with me when you come back."

He leaned down and kissed her. "One hour." He said when he let go.

-o0o-

Happy had left about an hour earlier. Ava was half asleep, listening to Grace play in her room, it usually sounded like a bunch of kids playing and she liked to listen to it. There was a knock on the door and she got up and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"Back already?" she said with a smile when she opened the door.

A second later, a hand was squeezing her throat and she was looking into the same blue eyes her daughter had.

"Daddy's home." It wasn't Happy's voice.

-o0o-

They had stopped at a diner just outside of Charming. Waiting for some of the Nomads who were late when his phone rang. He looked at the screen but it wasn't a number he recognized. Not that he cared, these people changed phones like others changed underwear, so he answered in his usual way.

"What!"

"_He's hurting mom!_" He immediately knew who it was but he hand no idea how she got his number.

"Grace? Who's hurting mom?" Jax, Tig and Clay stopped all conversation and looked at him.

"_Dad! He found us!_" She was breathing heavily, he looked at Clay who was already on his phone, making calls.

"Grace, where are you?"

"_I'm running, mom said that if he came I had to run to Mary's house._" Why the fuck hadn't Ava told him that?

"Good sweetie, keep running, someone with a cut will pick you up at Mary's." He looked at Jax who picked up his phone.

They were all at their feet, walking towards their bikes, Tig held out his hand and he knew what he wanted. "Honey, I'm going to hand you over to Tig, he'll keep talking to you. Stay on the line the entire time, ok?" He wanted to make sure that she made it to Mary's safe.

"_Ok, help her._"

"There's already people on their way to her sweetie. Don't worry."

"_Please hurry!_"

"Here's Tig, keep talking to him." He handed the phone to Tig,

"Sunshine, I'm going to stay with you till Bobby comes, ok? You don't have to talk just keep running."

"They're on their way." Jax said and Happy looked at Clay who handed him a new phone.

"Take Tig's phone so we can keep you updated. They will take her to the clubhouse. Tig and I will wait here for the Nomads and Jax will be right behind you."

"Thanks Prez."

"Just go!" They didn't have to tell him twice.

-o0o-

Of all the things Happy had taught her, there was only one that had actually seemed doable, and it was smacking someone over the ears. So with the hand around her neck, she opened her eyes, cupped her hands hand and hit him as hard as she could over the ears. It wasn't a perfect hit but he screamed and let go of her neck. She started running inside the apartment and the second she saw him passing Grace's door, she took a deep breath and screams as loud as she could.

"Gracie, RUN!" Her door opened and Grace ran past her dad. He turned after her and with a "NO!" Ava threw himself at him, pulling his arm. He turned around and hit her in the face but when she opened her eyes she saw Grace grabbing her pink backpack and she was out the door. And that was all she needed, Grace was safe and it was all that mattered. He hit her again in the stomach, she completely lost her breath and lying on the floor she saw him walking towards the door, closing and locking it.

"What the fuck are you doing in a shithole like this, doll?" He said while pulling her up and carrying her towards the bedroom.

Fifteen minutes later she was tied up lying on the bed and he had already made two long cuts on her back and several small, cursing her, telling all the other things he would do to her before raping her and finally killing her.

"When that biker boyfriend of yours come here. I'll kill him too, right in front of your fucking whore eyes." He hit her twice and it felt like some ribs broke. The tape over her mouth stopped her from screaming and she preferred that. She didn't want to scream or cry in front of him.

Suddenly she heard the door break, Jonah jumped out of the bed and ran towards the hallway and she heard a loud clonk, seconds later Chibs and Opie walked through her bedroom door.

"Oh shit!" Chibs said and ran up to her and ripped the tape from her mouth. "You with us, love?" She just nodded. He turned towards Opie, "Is the doc on her way to the clubhouse?"

She couldn't hear Opie's reply. "Cold." She said while Chibs were cutting her loose. Her throat was hurting bad and she hoped that it wasn't more damaged to that nerve, she didn't know how much it could take before it stopped working completely. Or if that even could happen.

"I know, It's the blood loss. I'll wrap you up as soon as I've cut you loose. Opie, get me one of those covers."

He finally got her loose and wrapped one of her covers around her and then carried her out into a car, all the time talking to her, telling her she'd be fine.

"Grace?"

"She's with Bobby, she called Hap on the way, ran to Mary's and Bobby is taking her to the clubhouse. She's fine."

"Called?"

"Yeah, she had a mobile." Ava had no idea how come Grace had a mobile, but she could find out about that later.

They arrived and Tara was waiting for them, Chibs put her on down on the covered redwood table and unwrapped the covers. Tara looked her into the eyes.

"I'm going to sedate you, Ava." All she could do was nod and seconds later she was gone.


	12. Want some privacy for this?

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of it's characters._

_Sorry for the cliffhanger. On the other hand, originally the chapter ended when Happy got on his bike, but I changed my mind. If I had been a reader of this story that would have drove me insane. I would've hated it and not in a good way. This way it was sort of a cliffhanger but at least you knew that Ava was saved._

_I know I'm nagging about it, but I'm just in awe of the number of favs and alerts and I can not believe the number of reviews I'm getting on this story. Thank you and I hope you don't find me extremely nagging for sending you thank you's for them. I just want to make sure that you know I appreciate it and if you take time to write one, I should bloody well take time to thank you._

* * *

**Chapter 12: Want some privacy for this?**

Happy ran into the club house and Bobby stopped him. "They're working on her, she's sedated."

"Did you get him?"

"Piney knocked him out, he's taking him up to the cabin." Cabin was secluded, he was going to beat the fuckhead to death, just as he had promised.

"I think Sunshine needs you." Bobby said and pointed towards Grace, who was sitting in the couch next to Gemma. She had her thumb in her mouth and her eyes were wide open.

He knelt down and looked at her, when she saw him she threw herself into his arms. "I did what Gemma said, I called you." She started crying and he looked at Gemma. Did what Gemma said?

"Sugar, you did the right thing, you did good." He hugged her closer and got up, still holding her. "You were great, honey. Mom will be fine, Tara is taking care of her."

He sat down in the couch, holding Grace. She fell asleep a while later and finally, it felt like fucking hours later, Tara and Chibs came out of the room.

"She's lost quite a lot of blood, but she'll be fine. I couldn't stitch her up, I had to close it with tape. I'll keep an eye on her to make sure it holds." Tara said.

"Why not stitches?" Gemma asked.

"There's to much scar tissue on her back, it wouldn't work and would only make the scars even worse."

"What?" Bobby said. He turned to Happy who just looked at Tara, he didn't even now where to begin.

"By the looks of it, he's been doing this more than once, more cuts than this time and judging for the scar tissue some of it is pretty old, her entire back is full of scars. Not only from a knife." She looked at Happy for confirmation.

"Yeah. Knives, whips and bite marks."

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Half-sack said.

"Gemma, can you take Grace and follow me. I'll carry Ava to my dorm."

He braised himself and then he opened the door. Her back was against him and he saw two big cuts and some small. He walked over to the other side of the table and saw a bruise on her jaw and she was black around the neck as well. He realized that the fucker must have choked her. Tara came with a cover and he wrapped her before carefully carrying her to his room. He put her on the bed next to Grace and then walked out to the bar.

"Tell me." He said while looking at Chibs and Opie. They knew what he meant, he wanted all the details.

"He met us in the hallway. Dad took him out with his tube. We found her in the bedroom." He trailed off and Happy turned to Chibs.

"He had taped her mouth and tied her to the bed, she was bleeding bad. She still had her jeans on so I don't think he..."

"He didn't rape her." Tara said.

"Did she say something?"

"Just asked for Grace."

"Why did Grace have a cell?"

"I talked to Ava once, she said that her only focus when this happened was Grace, to make sure Grace got away. So I talked to Grace, she told me about running to Mary's, I gave her a phone and told her to call you or me if something happened." He walked up to her and gave her a hug. He didn't know what else to do. She was one smart bitch. Then he turned to Tara.

"How long will she be out?"

"At least a couple of hours, she'll be tired from the blood loss as well."

"Give me a call the seconds she or Grace wakes up and tell her I'll be right here."

"Where are you going?" Gemma asked.

"The cabin." He answered and walked out the door.

-o0o-

When he came into the cabin, Piney was sitting on a chair with a shotgun in his hands and Jonah was tied to the wall and gagged.

"What's with the gag?" Happy asked. "No-one can hear him here."

"I can hear him. Broke his jaw and he still wouldn't shut up." Piney looked up at him. "Tied it hard, he didn't even flinch."

"Shit."Happy knew what that meant. If you gagged someone with a broken jaw it should hurt as hell.

He walked up to Jonah and grabbed his chin and pulled up his face to make him look into the light.

"Dilated?" Piney asked.

"Yeah."

"Just thought he was stupid when he didn't get the fuck out of there when Sunshine left." Piney laughed. "Must have been in combination with being high as a fucking kite. Think he'll feel any pain?"

Happy doubted it but was willing to at least try. He pulled of the gag, Jonah immediately started to scream at him, he wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. Instead he pulled out his gun and shot him in the knee, keeping an eye on his face to see if he even reacted.

"You asshole, you shot me! When I get out of here I'll fucking kill you. I will rape that stupid fucking bitch and cut her up. Then I'll kill you, rape her again and fucking kill her too, you son of a fucking whore." He shouldn't even be able to talk without cringing and the shoot didn't effect him the least. Happy had no fucking idea how to do this. He wanted the fucker to suffer.

Piney laughed. "Can't just be the high if he's stupid enough to think he'll get out of here."

"Probably PCP." Happy said.

"People still use that?" Happy shrugged at Piney's question but he was still looking at Jonah. He had no fucking idea what people used. Whatever this fucker was on he couldn't feel any pain.

"Any idea how long the high lasts on PCP?" He had to yell to make sure that Piney could hear him. The idiot in front him was still stupid enough to yell threats at him.

"Depends on how he took it. Can take more than a day sometimes."

Happy didn't have a day. He wanted this fucker dead as soon as possible so he could get back to Ava and Grace. The thought of Ava made him focus on what the fucker was saying.

"That whore is mine, she'll always be mine, I marked her fucking back. If it hadn't been for that whore offspring she'd still be with me. I can't believe you shot me you moterfucker!"

Considering that he couldn't feel anything he seemed very upset about being shot. Happy pulled up a chair in front of him. "Whore offspring?"

"That little bitch isn't mine."

"She's got your eyes. Luckily that's all she's got from you." Happy said and he finally understood how he could hurt this idiot. Pain wasn't necessary to make someone suffer or scare the shit out of them. "If you had ever bothered to look at her you would've known."

"Cocksucker. You'll never have her, she a frigid bitch. A whore."

"Ava? I've already had her. And she's not frigid. Quite horny I'd say. You never noticed?" He smiled.

Jonah went crazy. "You fucking liar, you're lying." It was impossible to hear what he was saying after that. It wasn't even words.

He heard Piney laugh behind him. "Want some privacy for this?"

"Yeah. Wait outside. I'll shoot him in a while, won't take long."

"No hurry, I've got nowhere to be tonight." Piney was still laughing as he got up and walked outside.

When he finally stopped screaming Happy leaned forward. "Before I kill you, I'm going to tell you eleven things that I've done to her or she to me, and I'm going to cut off one finger for each thing. Your lying tongue will be the money-shot. You're going to die, without fingers, unable to speak, knowing that she was never really yours." And then he gave the sack of shit his most grim smile. That made him shut up for a few seconds before the screaming started again.

-o0o-

He walked into the clubhouse a couple of hours later while two of his Nomad brothers were digging a grave. He walked straight past the bar and into his room. Ava was sleeping and had her arm around Grace. After a quick shower he got into the bed, facing them, watching them for a while.

Even though a part of him was screaming at him to get out of the bed, go into the bar and fuck a Crow Eater to prove to everyone and himself that he wasn't tied down, he couldn't. He didn't really want to. They were his girls, both of them. No such fucker as the man he just shot deserved two such perfect girls. He honestly wasn't sure he did either but they had chosen him and he wasn't going pass up on the opportunity.

-o0o-

When Ava woke up Happy was sleeping and next to her Grace was lying awake, looking at her.

"He found us." Grace whispered.

"But you saved me again. You called. You're such a brave girl, honey." She gave her a kiss. "So very brave. I'm so proud of you."

"Does it hurt?"

"Yes, but I'll be fine. You know that." Grace just nodded. She looked slightly better than she did a few minutes ago. It wasn't over yet.

There was a knock on the door and Gemma walked in.

"Hey Grace, Bobby is making muffins, think you'd want some?"

Grace looked at Ava who just nodded at her. "You go eat. I'll be there later." She got a quick kiss from her and then she climbed over Happy who didn't even seem to notice.

When she put her hand on his cheek he woke up and looked around.

"Where is she?"

"Gemma came in when she woke up, she was going to make her breakfast." She tried to pull him closer and he moved towards her. "Did they get him?" He looked right into her eyes and nodded. "What did you do?" She probably didn't have to ask. She had known what he would do a long time ago.

He kissed her. "It was you or him. You know that."

"I thought it was you." She said while hiding her face in his neck. Trying to hide her face since she felt so stupid.

"What?" He leaned back to look at her.

"I didn't ask, I didn't have a gun, I just opened the door. I thought it was you."

He stroke her face. "I would have a go at you if I didn't know that it doesn't matter anymore. Besides. Still wasn't your fault."

"It's kind of you fault." He looked at her again and she smiled. "You made me feel too safe."

"No such thing, babe. I'll keep you safe." He said and hugged her. She didn't want to know what he had done to Jonah before killing him. She didn't care and had no need to know that he suffered, it was enough that he was gone. "We'll talk about this later, ok?"

"Ok."

"How are you feeling?"

"Ok, I've had worse."

"Tara left some painkillers for you. Take them and I'll get you something to eat."

"Can I eat in your bed?" She teased him. "Oh my!"

"Shut up, bitch." He laughed and gave her another kiss. "Only because you're in pain and deserve it. Don't count on it ever happening again."

He left and came back a while later with coffee and a sandwich. She ate them and then he gave her the painkillers.

Happy watched her dose off, just before she was gone he heard her mumble it. "I love you." But he knew that she was so gone from the pills, she would never remember it. He sat down on the edge of the bed and watched her for a while. He had that feeling again, when he felt completely relieved and in total panic at the same time.

There was no telling if she really did, or if it was something she said in lack of other words. He had just killed her ex boyfriend and she knew it. It might be that she was simply grateful but even if he wasn't sure if he loved her yet, he hoped that she meant it.

He got up and walked out to the bar. He found Grace at the table and he picked her up and kept her in his lap as he sat down again.

"Have you had breakfast?"

"Yes, Bobby made me muffins. I saved one for you." He took the muffin she was handing him.

He hugged her closer. "How are you doing, Sugar?"

"Ok." She was sitting perfectly still.

"No, you're not." He kissed the top of her head. "Tell me."

"I left her, mom." She whispered and he grabbed the coffee with one hand and her with the other and walked off to one of the couches, away from the others.

"Grace, you did the right thing. There was nothing you could've done there." He made sure that she was looking at her. "If you hadn't called we wouldn't have known. Do you understand? You did great. Perfect even."

She kept looking at him for a while then she got up on her knees and put her arms around his neck. "Will you stay with us?"

He hugged her even tighter. "I'm not going anywhere, Sugar."

"Will mom be ok?"

"Yes, she's just tired. She'll be fine. I promise."

She leaned back with her hand still on his shoulders and driller her bright blue eyes into his. Only looking at him and finally he saw a smile on her face. "Wanna know what Tig did?"

"When?"

"On the phone, he didn't know what to say so he started singing. He sang a really strange song to me. So I would know he was still there."

Happy started to laugh. "What song?"

"It was called 'Ring of Fire'. I liked it." She sat down in his lap again and he leaned his chin on her head.

"I know that song. I like it too."

"I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone." She giggled.

"You're telling me now."

"Yes, but you don't count. I tell you everything. Like mom." His heart almost burst when she said that and he kissed the top of her head again.

"So I can't tease him for that then?"

She sat quiet for a while. "Ok. Just a little." She turned around again and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm gonna see if Bobby wants to play cards with me. Can you take me for a ride later?"

"Absolutely." He would have suggested it anyway. He knew that a ride would make her feel better.

He watched her run away with the usual twitchy energy. She was going to be ok. Kids had a tendency to bounce back and she was used to it, even if she shouldn't be. It was just a matter of picking up these moments, when she wasn't.

He got up and walked over to the table and sat down next to Tig.

"Sunshine ok?"

"She will be, as soon as she has recovers from hearing you sing 'Ring of Fire' to her."

Tig stared at him. "God damn. She promised!"

"She tells me everything." He smiled, felt really good to say that. "Seriously tough. Thanks, man."

"It was nothin'. Kid like that deserves the best." Tig watched her at the table with Bobby. "Fucking amazing, calling you like that. Good thing we have such smart bitches around us. Gem giving her a phone and your girl apparently managed to hit that fuck, pulled him into the apartment so Grace could get out."

_That_, he didn't like to hear. Crazy bitch. On the other hand, that's how she got Grace out and Grace called. "Grace told you that?"

He also wondered how come it had worked, why asswipe felt it. He would have to talk to Ava about it later.

"Nah, told Bobby." Tig said. "Gemma knew she would do that. We're lucky we have them. They're the fucking glue in this club. Least we can do is take care of them when they need it. And when they let us." Tig laughed when he said the last part.

"Speaking of glue." Happy said when Gemma walked inside with a brush in her hand. She sat down next to Grace and started to brush her dark curly hair. When she was done she put it up and then she came walking to him.

"I thought I'd go by her apartment and clean up." Gemma said. "She's going to need some things from there as well."

"I'll come with you." Happy needed to see it.

"I want some things too." Grace yelled from her table.

"Honey, I think it's best if you stay here with Bobby." Gemma said. "But let me know what you want."

Half an hour later they were in Gemma's car, on their way. He would have preferred the bike but Gemma had pointed at the car and told him to get in. You didn't mess with that woman.

"I don't think she needs to see the place. Gracie I mean."

"No."

They walked into the apartment, the door was bust but nothing seemed to be touched.

"Clay put the prospect on watch." Gemma said when he commented on it. He walked into the bedroom. Her bed was soaked in blood, he turned around and took a deep breath.

"I'll have the bed removed for you." Gemma said and put a hand on his arm.

"I'm really sorry about what happened to you too, Gemma."

"Thanks, baby."

"I that why you were so protective of her, when you heard what had happened to her."

"You picked up on that?" He just smiled at her, something had been off with how she was to Ava from the beginning, and she knew it too. "I guess that's why. Don't regret it, she's been great. Did you find out how he found her?"

"No. He was high, probably PCP, shot him in the knee and he didn't even notice. Piney found some picture in his pockets. Looked like it was from a webpage, it was her in the library."

"Probably some kids blog or something."

Happy shrugged. He didn't really care. "Might be, could as well have been Stahl."

"Should still kill that ATF bitch." Gemma said. "I'll get her some clothes and things from the bathroom. You can take my car back, just send the prospect here. I'll clean up."

"You don't need to do that, Gemma."

She walked over and kissed him on his cheek. "Just go. By the way, I called her brother, he'll be here later today."

-o0o-

Ava woke up, the cuts were hurting and the ribs made it hard to move. According to Tara they weren't broke but they still hurt like hell. There were pills on the bedside table with a note from Tara. She swallowed them and found a t-shirt and some sweatpants. Both of them huge but they did the job. She limped out to the bar and found Bobby, Chibs, Tig and Grace at table, playing poker.

Chibs got up when she came. "How you doin' darlin'?"

"It's ok. Thank you, for everything."

"Want some coffee and muffins? Baked them earlier." Bobby said.

"Bobby makes the best muffins." Grace said and threw some chips to the middle of the table.

"Well, I'm officially offended." Ava did feel slightly humiliated. "Sounds good though."

She sat down at the table and watched them play, Bobby came with coffee and a huge muffins.

When Grace called Tig's bluff and won another hand Ava started to laugh. "Are you just set on humiliating people today, Sweetie?"

"They're not very good. Not like Clark."

"I think they're just trying to be nice."

"Suckers." She laughed. It was nice to see her laugh, she seemed ok, at least for the moment. She would have questions later, when things started to sink in.

When the door opened, she saw Clark walking in with Opie. Grace jumped down from the chair and ran up to him. "Uncle Clark, I'm winning, they're trying to bluff me but I ain't falling for it."

"You never do, Pumpkin." he said while hugging her. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Grace said. "Very much."

Ava got up and walked up to him. He looked at her. "Hey girl, got somewhere private?"

She took him to Happy's room and he took her in his arms, stroking her hair and she did what she always did when it was just the two of them. She fell apart. He kept talking to her, stroking her back, whispering in her ear. All the things he knew that she needed to hear. That she did good, that she made sure Grace was ok, that Grace had been a brave girl and it was because of her, that she had people looking out for her and that she and Grace would be ok. And that he loved them.

Towards the end she was sitting in his lap on the bed, she was still crying and finally fell asleep.

That's when Happy walked in.

Happy halted at the door, Ava was sleeping in a big black haired guys lap, he could see her swollen eyes and wet cheeks. She had been crying, he had never fucking seen her cry. Not once. The guy looked up at him.

"Hang on. I'll just put her to bed." He got up and carefully put her down in the bed, putting a blanket on her. He stroke her hair and kissed her cheek. And then turned around and looked at Happy. He had the same amber eyes as Ava. He pointed at the door and Happy walked outside and waited for him. When he got out he extended his hand and Happy took it.

"I'm Clark, her brother. I'm guessing you're Happy?"

"Yeah."

"Can we talk?"

Was this guy really going to have a 'don't mess with my baby sister'-talk with him? "Sure."

They sat down at the picnic table outside and they both lit a smoke. He was quite interested to hear what this guy had to say.

"That Gemma-women called me yesterday. Ava had told me about her, but I didn't know she had my number. Anyway, she gave me the basics, that Gracie called you and some guys were sent over to Ava's place but she didn't tell me if they caught him."

"They did." Clark looked into his eyes, they were the same as Ava's, smart.

"I take it he won't be a problem anymore?"

"No."

"Good. Thank you."

"How is she?"

"She just needs to let it out, only happens once, she'll be fine when she wakes up."

"I've never seen her cry."

"Doesn't happen often. She does it like this, falls apart when it's just the two of us and then she's fine." He shrugged. "Does she know?"

Happy didn't have to ask what he meant. "Yes."

"I guess she'll be staying here."

"Hope so." She was, he was going to make sure she did. But saying that to her brother wasn't the smart move. Not considering that he just had told him he killed the other guy who had decided she was his.

"I'll stick around for a couple of days, if it's ok?"

"Sure."

They both got up and Clark walked up to him. "Thanks, you've done a lot for her. She's... she's the only family I have, her and Grace, It means a lot to me, what you're doing for them." Then he turned around and walked inside.

Very straight to the point, reminded him of Grace.

-o0o-

When Ava woke up Clark was gone and it was Happy's black eyes she looked into.

"Hey." She smiled.

"Hey, babe. Feeling better?"

"Yes."

"Got you some clothes and stuff from your house. Gemma picked it out for you."

She looked at him for a long time and decided that she needed to tell him. "Happy. I love you." When he opened his mouth she put her hand over it. "I'm not expecting you to... love me, or even if you ever do, tell me. It's not the sort of thing you say and I'm ok with that. But I need you to know that I do."

"I know you do." He smiled. "You told me earlier."

"No I didn't." She would have remembered that.

"You were out on painkillers and was falling asleep." He leaned forward and kissed her. "But it's nice to hear you say it when you're aware of it."

She felt slightly embarrassed. "Hmm, ok. It's not just because what you... did... to Jonah."

"You need to say it. Just once, but you need to admit it."

"Not just because you... killed Jonah." It was surprisingly hard to say it out loud. "That's not even that far up on the list."

He was playing with her hair, stroking her bruised cheek and was so close to her she could feel his lips on her forehead. "Then why?"

"Well, you make me come, hard." He laughed when she said it.

"I do." She looked up at him and he kissed her. "And?"

"You're fishing! But I guess you've deserved some pampering."

"Pampering? Makes me sound like a kid." He seemed offended but he was still smiling.

"I like the person I am with you. Even when I'm yelling at you." He looked at her, startled almost. And she felt she needed to explain. "I'm not afraid around you, you've... made me confident. And you never pitied me. You pissed me off instead. That's when you weren't extremely patient, but I think that's mostly because you wanted to get into my pants."

"Thank you. That's very high praise." He kissed her. "And yes, I was only trying to get into your pants. You were driving me insane, it was worth it. It's a very nice pussy."

"Oh, geez, Happy. Could you please not call it pussy."

"As long as I can make you come, hard, I'll call it whatever I like." He had his smug, cocky look. "It's your pussy and I like it. A lot."

"Hmpf, I had more, but I'm not going to tell you now."

"Was it about Grace?" He said while kissing her neck again.

"Yes."

"Then I already know." he smiled. "And she's worth it."

"Good to know." She finally opened her mouth and kissed him properly. "Thank you."

"You're worth it too. Mind saying it again?"

She laughed. "Mr. Lowman. Are you begging?" He always teased her that she ended up begging him to come inside. She knew she did, she tried every time not to, but she always did. He knew exactly what buttons to push. "I love you."

-o0o-

He was leaning against the bar and the blond tattoo artist was standing in front of him, making his twelfth smiley face. Grace was standing next to him, looking very carefully. The bitch looked at Grace.

"Wanna get out of the way?" She snared to Grace who looked at her with big eyes.

"She stays." Happy said and the bitch looked up at him with questioning eyes. He glared at her, dared her to say another fucking word about or to Grace.

She started the machine and went to work.

"Does it hurt?" Grace said and looked at him.

"Not really. It's not big." He looked up and saw Ava leaning against the wall in arch leading to the hallway and the dorm. She looked at the tattoo artist and then up at him. She smiled at him, knowing why he did this.

When it was done he looked up at her again. Teasing bitch, asking him if he was begging! He just liked to hear her say it. There had been chicks who had said it before but this was the first time he had heard a girl say it and really mean it.

She loved him and even if he wasn't prepared to say it yet, she was the first woman who had been able to make him do a tattoo for her. And she hadn't even asked. He was aware that this probably wasn't the most romantic tattoo and he wouldn't even tell her that it was for her. Didn't matter, to him that smiley face would be for her, for the sack of shit he killed for her.


	13. Beg!

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of its characters. They belong to Kurt Sutter and FX._

_So. Next chapter. Sort of a filler out but still needed, hope you like it._

_Once again. Thank you for favs, alerts and REVIEWS. And thank you for just reading!_

* * *

**Chapter 13: Beg!**

Happy took a ride with Grace later that evening. They were sitting on their regular bench and she was having an ice cream, as always.

"Gemma gave you a cell?" He had wanted to ask her about that.

"Yes. Think she wants it back?" Grace was starring at pretty much nothing.

"Nah, think you can keep it."

"She taught me how to use it. You know, charge it, turn it on and stuff. And how to call you." She licked on the ice cream. "We practiced."

"Why didn't you tell your mom or me?"

"She said you'd probably think it's to much respibility. But that it would be good if I could contact you. You know."

"What? Responsibility?"

"Yes. But I wanted to help. Mom always makes sure I can get out or have good place to hide."

Happy stared at her. The stuff this kid had been through was just... fucked up. 'A place to hide', and fucking do what? Listen? He lit a smoke and kept looking at her. Still swinging her legs so she seemed ok, for the moment. It was hard to know how this would effect her in the long run, she needed stability and he was not sure he was the right guy to know how to do that.

"Did you like Clark?" She suddenly asked.

Happy almost choked on the smoke, it would be nice if she sugarcoated her questions once in a while.

"I don't know, Sugar. We only talked for a couple of minutes. He seems ok."

"I like him a lot." She said. "He's like you."

"How?"

"He doesn't talk to me like I'm a baby. He answers my questions." Her legs was still swinging. It was like having a lie-detector on her. Or at least watching her pulse in action. "It's because I'm small for my age."

"What is?"

"People think I'm younger than I am, so they talk to me like I'm younger." Happy hadn't known she was small for her age. He didn't know what size kids usually was. But that would explain why all the other had thought she was younger in the beginning. He had seen her run into school but didn't really know which kids was in her class. Then he remembered her birthday party. She had definitely been the smallest kid in the room.

"That must suck, being smarter than anyone your age and have people talk to you like you're younger."

"You think I'm smart?" She said with a smile.

"Don't fish, you know you're a fucking genius." He laughed and continued laughing when she held out her hand. "Greedy little kid." He added and gave her a quarter.

"For my Harley." She smiled when she put it in her pocked. "How old do I have to be to drive?"

"If you can get your mom to agree you can get a learners permit when you're fifteen and a half."

"Think she'll agree?"

"Don't know, you've got some time to nag her." He said and she smiled at him. "Don't go overboard, you need to be really smart about it."

Grace sat still for a while, jumped down to throw away the paper from the ice cream. When she came back she looked at him. "You should take her for a ride."

Happy stared at her, fucking genius, that was what this kid was. "I think I'll do that."

"You'll need a bitch seat."

Happy picked her up. "Don't let you mom hear you say that." He grabbed her helmet and carried her towards the bike. "Let's head back."

"Think Bobby'll make me muffins tomorrow?"

"If you ask him." She had the entire fucking club wrapped around her fingers, him included.

"Happy."

"Yes, Sugar." He said as he put her in front of him.

"I'm glad you're with my mom. She smiles with you." Since she was sitting with her back against him he took her hand and kissed the inside of it. These girls were driving him insane.

-o0o-

Ava and Clark was sitting outside on a bench when Happy pulled in. He put Grace on the ground and she ran up to them into Clark's arms.

Happy came just after her and gave Ava a kiss on her forehead.

"How many ice creams did she have?"

"Just one." He said with a smile.

"A big one." Grace said and Clark laughed. Happy didn't say anything and walked inside with Grace running after him.

"She adores him." Clark said with a smile.

"He's honest with her, answers her questions and just... talked to her." Ava said. "I can kind of see the appeal."

"I bet you can. You've got puppy dog eyes every time he's close."

"I do not!" She almost yelled. "Oh my god! Do I?" She really hoped she didn't.

"No, just kidding. But you do look like you wanna eat him."

"Oh my God!" she said and hit Clark in the arm. That was even worse.

"Guessin' he managed to give you an orgasm." He started to laugh.

"Clark!"

Clark couldn't stop laughing and she could feel herself blushing. He finally put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry. Just really happy for you, but when I said that, you looked... I don't know. Like a catholic school girl who just got caught on her knees in front of the popular jock."

"Geez! You're horrible." But she laughed and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me that you worked for a garage that they use in New York."

"Don't know."

"Did you ask Jack to send me here?" She had wondered that for a while. If it had been his way of getting her to know the Sons. If it was one of his 'calculated moves' as he sometimes called them.

Clark turned and stood in front of her. "No! Jack knew them since before and I didn't ask him. I didn't even know. I promise." He put his arms around her. "I've made that mistake once. Not going to do that again."

"I'm going to tell Happy that his girl is in the arms of some other guy." Tig said as he walked by. Ava waved at him and he smiled at her. Chibs stayed behind as Tig went inside.

"How are you doin'?"

"Cuts still hurts. Ribs are a bit better."

"Make sure you take the painkillers, no use to be in pain if you don't have to."

"Ok." She gave him a hug. "Thank's again, for everything. Just glad I got that 'friend'-status."

Chibs looked at her with a surprised face. "That was just for other clubs, in case you did something stupid an ran away. And to make sure no-one from another charter made a pass at ya."

She probably looked as surprised as she felt since Clark started to laughed next to her. "Siss, sometimes you can really look stupid."

"Sorry, I just don't understand."

"If you're not someones Old Lady and you're here, you're up for grabs." Now she probably looked horrified. "If anyone tried Happy would kill 'em so I wouldn't worry. Anyway. You were already on our watch, we would have done the same thing if it happened a week earlier."

"I'm sorry if I... I don't know, offended you."

"Didn't." The Scotsman said with a smile. "Not easy to understand all this."

"No, sure isn't!" Ava said with a laugh and cringed when her ribs protested.

"Go to bed sis. I'll take Grace for the night to make sure you get proper sleep."

"Should probably take Happy as well." Chibs said and Ava felt herself blushing.

"No, passing up on Happy in my bed." Clark smiled. He put her arm around Ava and walked her inside.

When they were in Happy's room he gave her the pills and watched her swallow them.

"Thank you, for coming here." She said as she laid down.

Clark laid down next to her. "I know I've said this a million times... but I'm really sorry for fucking up your life."

"And I've told you a million times that it wasn't your fault." Ava wished more than anything that Clark would be able to forgive himself. It wasn't his fault, none of it, no matter what he thought.

"Love you." He whispered and got up and it felt like she was falling through the mattress.

-o0o-

Happy had heard the conversation and waited for Clark when he came out. "Why is it your fault?"

Clark almost jumped out of his shoes. "Fucking hell! Don't sneak up on me like that."

Happy repeated the question cause he had a feeling it was more to this than that Clark had been on drugs. "Why is it you fault?"

"Come on." Clark said and they walked outside. They sat down on the same bench they had been earlier that day. "I introduced them and by the time I realized what he was he had taken her across the country. I couldn't make her leave. Fuck I was so deep in the shit I could hardly make sense to myself and... I fucked up. Our parents died, I was strung out and she was seventeen and alone."

Happy watched him. "You introduced them?"

"Yeah. Was a drugbuddy of mine. Charming, eh? I practically handed my baby-sister over to a complete psychopath." The contempt in his voice wasn't towards anyone but himself.

"Did she stay with you when she lived in New York?"

"No, other area of town, she thought it was safer." He put out his cigarette and smiled at Happy. "I'll take Grace to bed. I'll let her stay with me tonight."

Happy just nodded. He knew that people did stupid things on drugs and that Clark probably didn't know that Jonah was a psycho. It still pissed him off.

-o0o-

A few hours later he went into his room, took a shower and got into bed next to Ava. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Come closer."

He did and put his arm around her hip, trying to avoid her back. Her lips was pressed against his neck when he felt her tongue licking him.

"Not sure that's a good idea, babe."

"I think it's a great idea." she said before biting him over the collarbone. Before he had time to do something about it he felt her hand around his dick and she started to stroke it up and down.

"Babe. You really should... Oh, fuck!" He grabbed her face and kissed her while she still moved her hand, now and then running her thumb over his glans. "Ava!"

Her eyes was locked to his when she wasn't kissing his chin, jaw, neck or scratch him with her teeth. She was a quick study, not that he was surprised, she had the brains for it. For a second I wondered if this was another thing that she had been taught by being hit but he quickly pushed that thought aside. When she let go for a few seconds to spit in her hand and then moved it back down to continue, he caressed her face again. He was so close.

"Ava, if you don't stop I'm gonna cum all over you."

She just smiled, leaned forward and grabbed his lower lip with her teeth before shoving her tongue into his mouth. He was lost, he moved against her hand, kissing her and felt the tickling, the contraction in his balls and when she drew her finger over the top again he couldn't hold it. He came into her hand and when he opened his eyes her eyes was watching him with a curious face.

He kissed her again and got up to get a towel. When he laid down next to her and dried her hand he laughed. "Fuck, can't even remember the last time I had a handjob."

"I liked it." She smiled.

"_You_ liked it?"

"I liked watching you." He could see why. He would like to see her come, without being in the middle of his own orgasm, or trying to avoid it.

Ava saw the smile in his face and knew what he was up to. "You can't! I'm injured."

"If you lie really still it won't be a problem." He smiled and put his arm under her head. "It's my turn to watch."

"You've seen me." She tried to push away his hands.

"You need to be very still, babe. Wouldn't want you to make those injuries worse." He pulled her closer and kissed her while slipping his hands into her boyshorts. She was soaking wet and for a second he was stunned and looked at her. She blushed. "Babe? Seriously, giving me a handjob does this to you?" She was extremely embarrassed, she walked around horny the entire time when he was around. She knew exactly what Clark had meant when he said she looked like she wanted to eat Happy whenever she was looking at him.

"I liked it." She mumbled and sighed when she felt his fingers moving between her legs.

"Noting to be embarrassed about, babe."

"Oh, God!" His fingers was inside of her and his thumb was on her clit. She was already so turned on, it didn't take him long before she felt herself contracting around his fingers and the now familiar cramp started between her legs and moved up her stomach and down the inside of her thighs.

"Fucking hell, Ava." He mumbled into her hair while he was hugging her.

"What?" She had no idea what he meant.

"You are so fucking beautiful. And I have a hard-on again." He laughed.

"We could try, just a little." She really wanted him and kissed his throat and chin.

"No."

"Please?"

"Absolutely not. Tara would fucking kill me if I messed up you back."

"I can be on top." She put her leg around his and rubbed her very wet groin against his thigh. She could her him inhale sharply.

"God damn it, Ava. Stop!" He turned towards her and gently pushed her away.

"You're mean." She murmured into his throat before biting him carefully and was very satisfied to hear him groan.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." He mumbled and pulled the cover over them before saying in a stern voice. "Go back to sleep. Be nice."

"I'm very, very nice."

"I know, babe. Please, go back to sleep." He kissed her and carefully put his arm around her.

-o0o-

Clark stayed for another two nights and despite Ava's best attempts, Happy refused to have sex with her.

"This is like being a teenager again." She complained the last night.

"At least we're below the belt." Happy laughed which pissed her off.

"Don't know why you're laughing." She said and hit his arm. "No like you're getting any." Then she realized something. Considering what Tara had told her about monogamy and Old Ladies. But she didn't want to ask and instead hid her face in his chest. She really hoped that he wasn't having sex with someone else instead.

"Laughing 'cause you're as horny as a teenage boy."

"And you're like a catholic schoolgirl with a promise ring, cramming your knees together." She knew she sounded grumpy and his laughed made her even grumpier. "Talk to me instead." She didn't want to thing about sex anymore.

"About what?" He said and pulled her closer.

"Why you don't like Clark."

Happy choked, he was considering having sex with her instead. He would prefer that.

"He told me that Jonah was his drugbuddy."

"It wasn't his fault. It's not as simple as he introduced me and gave me to him." Ava said with emphasis.

"Still don't like it." He drew his thumb over her lips.

"He's my brother, my only family and I love him."

"I'll behave." Not like the prick was around the entire time so he could live with that.

"Good." She moved closer to him and he carefully leaned to his side to hide the fact that he had a hard-on. This would be so much easier if she wasn't all over him. Handjobs were nice but they didn't really do much more than taking the edge off. "I think I'm done."

What the fuck did that mean. "With what?"

"Done sulking."

"You've been sulking?"

She was still for a while. "No, I haven't. I usually sulk for a while after... you know. I think it's because I've been so horny."

"Been? When did you stop?"

"Oh, shut up!" She stretched out and turned around, rubbing her ass against his dick a bit more than necessary.

"Fucking hell. I'm going to fuck you silly first chance I get." He said into her ear and she just giggled. Teasing bitch.

"Good night."

"Sleep tight, babe." He mumbled into her hair and hugged her tighter.

-o0o-

It was her first day at work and when she woke up in the morning she was looking forward to it. The ribs were fine and the cuts were ok. She could at least work if she took painkiller and just hanging around the clubhouse was boring her.

When she woke up it was just her and Grace in bed. It was the first morning in a while that it was just the two of them. Grace had gone back to school after a couple of days and Happy usually took her before Ava even woke up.

"Hey, honey."

"Are you done yet?" Grace whispered.

"I'm not sure I've been sulking."

"I know."

"No reason to not celebrate it. Do you have the cd?"

"Gemma brought it."

This was a tradition of theirs, when Ava was starting to feel better, when she was 'done', they put on a cd with their favorite songs. Sang along and made pancakes. It was a way to mark that they were moving along.

They got out to the kitchen and Ava found the ingredients she needed for the pancakes, Grace turned on the cd and the first song started, it was loud!

Bobby came in. "What are you doing Sunshine?"

"We do this, when we're done!" She screamed over the music and ran into the kitchen, singing along.

When they started frying Ava put Grace on the counter. They were still singing along and at the end of Motörhead's "We are Motörhead" Grace screamed;

"Next song is the best song ever!"

Happy walked in and found Chibs, Bobby, Clay, Gemma and Opie sitting, looking into the kitchen.

"What's with the loud fucking music?" He looked at Gemma who just pointed to the kitchen.

They were making food, sining along. He had seen it before, they danced and sang along to music quite often, he took it as a good sign. He sat down next to Chibs. That's when Grace screamed: "Next song is the best song ever!"

"Do they do this often?" Chibs asked. Happy just nodded. "It's a good sign then."

When they were eating Gemma smiled at Grace. "Tara and I got you a present."

"Why?" Grace smiled but looked confused.

"Cause you're the braves kid in the world." Gemma handed over a package.

Happy laughed when he saw what it was. Two t-shirts, one Harley Davidson and one Sons of Anarchy. Grace immediately pulled off the t-shirt she had on and then she was staring at both of them. She looked up at him with huge eyes.

"I can't choose."

Bobby laughed at her bewildered face. "Give 'em here." He took the t-shirts and put them behind his back. "Pick a hand. That's the one you'll have today and the other one is for tomorrow."

"Ok." Grace said and pointed at one arm and then pulled on the Harley Davidson t-shirt. She gave Gemma a hug. "Thank you, can you braid my hair?"

"Sure, get a brush." Gemma said. She watched Grace as she ran off. "I always wanted a girl."

"Thank you." Ava said and gave her a kiss on the cheek and when she passed him she stroke her hand over his back. Happy realized that was getting a new case of blue balls since that was all it took for him to feel the twitch in his crouch.

"Oh, Ava, what happened with the apartment?" Ava had been trying to get a new place to live since she didn't want Grace to have to move back to the old one. Simply since it would freak Grace out to live there when Jonah knew where it was. Not that it matter but they couldn't really tell her that he was dead.

"Jack fixed it, not sure how he did it, but we can move into the other on monday."

"I'll meet you at the old one when you're done at work."

"Do you know where she's moving." Opie asked him.

"Yeah. Pretty much the same neighborhood." He didn't like it, he wanted her in another neighborhood but he wasn't going to fight about that. Yet.

"We'll gather everyone together and help with the move. Not like she can lift anything." Clay said before getting up. "Can you fix it, love?" He said the last part to Gemma who nodded and then smiled at Grace who came running with a brush in one hand and her bag with hairs stuff in the other.

Happy knew that they were heading towards trouble, that they were preparing for war but at the same time he knew that the worst was over at least for his girls. And they fit in, they both seemed comfortable with the club. Grace had since the first time he took her there, but Ava was comfortable now as well and the Crow Eaters had the sense to stay the fuck away from both of them.

He got up. "Let me know when you're ready, Sugar, and I'll take you to school." He said to Grace and went towards the dorm.

-o0o-

Ava was in Happy's room, getting ready. Tara had been by and left her some of her own work clothes and taken care of her back at the same time.

It was the light gray shift dress and a black belt, she didn't have any earrings but had taken some hairpins from Grace's bag and managed to get the hair up. She took the shoes in her hand and was about to walk out when Happy opened the door.

"Give me a kiss." He said with a smile.

He looked at her and even turned her around before placing his hands on her butt-cheeks and leaned down for a kiss. He didn't stop and she put her arms around his neck and sucked on his lips and tongue. She felt him push her backwards until she was pressed against the dresser.

"Just want to remind you that it's been more than a week." She said against his lips and his hands her ass and he lifted her up on the dresser, seconds later his hands was underneath her dress, pulling in her. His lips lever left hers.

The sound of his belt made her certain, she was going to get some and she trembled from excitement and wrapped her legs around him. When she felt it, warm and throbbing agains the inside of her thigh she groaned and closed her eyes.

"Sure about this, babe?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "What?" She could hardly think. "Come on!"

"Sure?" He was just at her entrance and had the most devilish smile, she could hardly breath out of pure horniness and he was teasing her!

"Fuck's sake. Come on!" She was trying to pulled him in with her legs but he was holding her hips, making sure she couldn't come any closer to him.

He raised his eyebrows and smiled, not an inch from her face. "Beg!"

"Oh God I hate you sometimes. Please! Fuck me, please!" And he rammed inside of her, still looking his eyes to hers.

Happy had known he was screwed the second he walked into the room and saw her with bare legs in that dress, barefoot and her shoes in her hand. The same shoes that were now hitting his back with every thrust. He might have managed to restrain himself if she hadn't pointed out that he could have her without condom, just the thought of her warm wet insides with nothing between them made his dick twitch.

Sitting on a dresser and with him holding her hips wouldn't hurt her back. At least that's what he told himself while making her beg. He fucking loved to hear her beg and her asking him to 'fuck' her, had made it all the more appealing. He couldn't take his eyes of her face. The last few nights of advanced 'below the belt'-games had made him love her face even more. When she closed her eyes and kept her mouth slightly open he couldn't stop looking at her.

He moved his hands from her hips and caressed her face to kiss her when he felt her squeezing his dick and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't keep his eyes open when he came.

"I needed that." She said against his chest. "Thank you."

He laughed. "I like that dress." She looked up at him and he gave her a kiss before taking a step back to pull up his pants.

"I'll keep that in mind." Jumping down from the dresser, she picked up her panties and walked into the bathroom.

"Still hate me?" He yelled after her and heard her laugh.

"No. Not until next time you make me beg."

"It's that or I'll just nod at you." He sat down on the dresser and waiter for her when she came out again she looked at him with a questioning smile.

"Beg or a nod?"

"That's my rule."

"Your rule?"

Ava walked up to him and stood between his knees. "What if I refuse then?"

"You? Deny me? Babe, you can't get your panties down quick enough when I'm close by." He laughed and jumped down to put his arm around her shoulder.

"Just you wait until I'm over my worst horniness and attraction to you."

"Not going to happened." He said as they walked out into the hallway, when they did he let go of her. Whenever they were alone he couldn't stop touching her but she had noticed that he hardly ever did at the clubhouse. She assumed that it was one of those rules she didn't understand.

"You are such an arrogant, smug, ass sometimes."

"That's why you love me." He said and pulled her closer.

"Smug!" She said and walked away. He caught her again. "Not going to trick me into saying it." She stared at him. "Beg!" He glared at her and she glared back and finally turned to walk to her car.

She couldn't help herself, she had planned to just walk away but she turned around and when she did he gave her another self-satisfied smile. Damn! He knew she would do it and she couldn't bloody help herself.

She knew would beg the next time as well. Begging seemed to be the better option. There was no way in hell she would give in just because he nodded though! She might be horny but she still had some pride.


	14. She asked about you

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of its characters._

_I know I'm a nag, but thank you for the favs, alerts and the reviews. I love all of them! I hope I've properly thanked all of you reviewers. If not, I apologies._

* * *

**Chapter 14: She asked about you**

"_I've emptied the storage. I'll bring it to you. I'll be there tomorrow but I need to leave the day after."_

"That's fine. Thank you Clark."

"_Do you even know what you had in there?"_ Clark said with a very amused voice.

"Not really. I know there's books and clothes."

"_Yeah, some other shit as well."_

"It'll be a nice surprise then."

They said good bye and hanged up. She hadn't been sure if Clark knew that Jonah was dead but when he had suggested that she came to New York for a visit around Christmas, she knew. He would never had suggested that if he thought Jonah was still around.

When she came into Grace's new room she was painting the wall with Gemma and Tara. Happy had done the outline of a princess on a motorcycle and now they were filling it in. Pink dress and black bike, just like the one Happy had.

"Was it Clark?" Tara asked.

"Yes. He's sending the stuff I had in storage in New York. I'm going to need bookshelves."

"Books?" Gemma asked.

"Books, cds, some clothes and loads I'm not sure what it is." She sat down on Grace's chair. "Sure I can't help."

"I don't even like that you're at work." Tara said and pointed at her with the brush.

"I'm fine, really."

"Just sit down. Or make us some coffee." Gemma said and Ava went into the kitchen.

She had hardly seen Happy since she started working. According to Gemma and Tara it was club stuff. They were in the middle of things and whenever they were, it was best to just stay out of the way and be there for them when they needed it. She understood, it was harder for Grace so it had meant a lot to her when he had helped her to paint the wall the day before.

Her phone rang and she noticed it was Happy. Tara laughed.

"I don't even have to ask who it is."

"What?" She said while flipping it open. "Hey."

"_Hey. I'm going down to Bakersfield for the evening."_

"Ok?" What the hell was in Bakersfield?

As usual, he knew how to mess with her and laughed. _"My mom."_

"What?"

"_That's what's in Bakersfield."_

"You're scary."

"_You still love me." _As smug as always. _"I'll see you tonight" _And he hung up.

Ava shook her head and went into the kitchen to get the coffee.

"Was it Happy?" Grace asked.

"Yes. He was going to go visit his mom."

"I didn't know he had a mom." Grace seemed disturbed.

"He does." Ava said. "I'm sure he'll tell you about her if you ask her."

"Ok." Grace looked uncomfortable. "Think we'll meet her?"

"Don't know honey. Ask him. He's more inclined to answer your questions than mine."

"Inclined?"

"More willing." She picked up Grace and gave her a kiss. Grace nodded and gave her a kiss as well.

-o0o-

Happy walked into his mom's room and when she saw him she smiled. He was not looking forward to this.

"I was starting to wonder if you had forgotten your old mother." She smiled when he leaned over to kiss her cheek. "So, what is the bad news?"

"What makes you think I have bad news?"

"You've been avoiding me for weeks and you have the same expression as a wet cat." He had never been able to to fool his mom. "Been arrested?"

He sighed and sat down in the coach next to her. "Yes." He took her hand. "I'm sorry."

"When?" She wanted to know when he would go inside.

"I don't know. Things are... pretty messed up right now."

"Messed up?" She said with a smile.

"What?"

"Since when do you avoid the word 'fuck' around your mother?"

He laughed. He should have known she would notice that. Nothing got pass her. "I've met someone."

She stared at him and then smiled. "Tell me."

"Her name is Ava. She's... I don't know." He tried to think of how to describe her. How the hell would he do that.

His mom raised her eyebrows. "That special?"

"Yes. And she's got a kid. Grace, she's six and... really smart, loves bikes."

"So what does Ava do for a living?" She had a slight dislike in her tone and he was looking forward to her reaction to his answer.

"She works at a library, head of the Kids department."

Her eyes were wide open and then she started to laugh. "How on earth did you meet a librarian!"

"Got lucky." He could see why that was surprising to her.

He's mom took his hand with both hers. "Let's not talk about jail at all. Tell me all about them instead."

So he did. He told her everything about them. Every last detail, even the nasty ones. He didn't tell her how he killed Jonah, but he implied that he had and she nodded. They sat for hours, ate, had coffee and he was still talking about them.

"They seem very special. You're a lucky man."

"I know." He knew he was. Two perfect girls and they wanted him. "I'll take them here. So you can meet them."

"I'd like that." She smiled and he noticed that she was tired. He had been there for a longer time than usual and she wasn't well.

"I should go. You need some sleep." He kissed her cheek.

"Take care of them. And spend time with them while you can." She patted his cheek. "And bring them here before going inside, you hear me?"

"I hear you, mom."

He gave her final kiss before leaving and got on his bike. He knew he was lucky and he knew he should spend more time with them. It was just so much going on and he still couldn't tell her about it. She wasn't an Old Lady. Yet.

-o0o-

The next day Tara and Gemma was there again and they were going through the boxes that Clark had brought her. The clothes made them laugh their asses off.

"You used to wear this?" Gemma was holding up a golden bra.

"In my defense, I haven't seen most of this in six years!"

"Geez, with this on you would look like a crow eater and not the A kind. Golden bra!

"Shut up!"

She woke up in the late at night by Happy, pulling her closer. "It's nice to catch you in bed, that way I don't have to carry you into the bedroom."

"It's nice to not have to use a gun." She smiled and he kissed her.

"From behind." He whispered and she froze up.

Happy noticed her reaction. She had been up for a lot but from behind was obviously a problem, he had never asked before and he thought it was because of the scars. "You know you don't have to worry about them."

"It's not that, it's..." Sometimes he wanted to dig up that grave, piss on him and then throw him back in.

"Come on, babe." He pulled her up on her knees, turned her around and put her hands on the headboard of their new bed. "Keep your hands there, you can not move them, ok?"

"Ok."

He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "You trust me?" She just nodded. "Babe, out loud, you trust me?"

"Yes." She whispered.

He stroked her sides, the curve of he waist, up to the side of her breast and followed the edge of her perfect fucking tits. He could feel how she started to relax. He kept moving his hands all over her, kissing her neck and shoulder, tracing the latest scar on her shoulder with his tongue.

He moved his left hand to the inside of her thighs and kept the right one at he front, stroking her breast and stomach, kissing her neck, jaw and sucking her earlobe, she had begun to moan and tried to move his hand down with hers.

"Babe, I told you, keep your hands on the headboard." He smiled. Still just teasing her by stroking the inside of her thighs. She groaned but put her hands back, pushing her ass against him. She turned her head towards him and he kissed her, playing with her tongue and sucking her lips. He glanced towards her hands, her knuckles were white from gripping down hard.

He moved his right hand down her stomach and between her legs until he found her clit, she moaned out load, still kissing him. She was wet, soaking wet, he fucking loved doing this to her. It drove him insane and he was about to burst before he could sink into her, but he loved getting her relaxed when she was freaked out and then see how it changed and she got so turned on that she didn't know what to do. It didn't happen often anymore, but it still happened.

"Please, Happy." That was what he had been waiting for. The begging.

"You ready?" He just had to tease her.

"Yes, please." She was begging, her knuckles were white and she was rubbing her ass agains him in a way that was driving him insane. But he had enough sanity to tease her a little more.

"Sure?"

"Fucks sake Hap! Please!" He chuckled and pulled down his underwear, pushing her shoulders to get her to lean forward and when he put his cock at her entrance she groaned. He grabbed her hips and pushed. "Oh, God!" She almost screamed.

He held on to her hips, moving her over his dick after a while he leaned over and put his mouth to her ear. "You can let go of the headboard now."

She put one hand behind her on his ass, pulling him towards her and the other around his neck, kissing him. He slipped his hand down between her legs again and started rubbing her clit. He loved the fact that he didn't need a condom, he wanted to feel all of her and when he felt her pussy gripping him hard he thrusted harder till he felt the tingle and with a roar he released inside her.

He held both arms around her and she was holding the headboard again, panting. He pushed her hair out of the way and kissed the back of her neck again. "You ok?"

Ava was still trying to catch her breath, but had to laugh at his question. Ok didn't really cover it. "Yes. Thank you."

"You're welcome." She turned around, they were both still on their knees in the bed and she put her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"I'd never pick you for such a patient man."

"Well, despite of what you told me, you're worth the trouble." He smiled and tried to find the pillows that were tossed all over the room. "And, I like it."

"Like what?"

"Unfreak you out."

"Well, there's probably other things that'll freak me out, it'll take some time until you finished with it."

"I have something I need to tell you." He said as he laid down, taking her with him and tucked her in on his arm.

"Ok?"

"We're going after Zoebell and the guys that hurt Gemma and Chibs."

"Ok." She hugged him closer.

"We're going into lockdown, tomorrow."

Into what? "What does that mean?"

"For a couple of days, all of our friends are living at the club house, that includes you and Grace. It's for your own safety."

She thought about it for a few seconds, and concluded that their was no way out of it even she wanted. "Ok."

"Ok? Not going to protest?" He was teasing her.

"No."

"Not even a 'fuck you' for me?" He turned around and was on top of her looking into her eyes.

"I can say it if you want to."

"I'm just surprised. You usually don't like it when I order you around."

"Just don't want you to think you can get away with it. I know when it's important to do what you say and when you're just trying to boss me around."

"Like earlier?" He said with a naughty smile.

"That's different?"

"How?"

"That's you trying to make me get over fears I shouldn't have, not you trying to show me who's boss." She took his face in her hands. "And I need that."

"Sure do." He got back next to her. "I'll wake you up tomorrow and help you pack."

"I need to go to work."

"It's a public place. I'll have someone taking you there and picking you up. Just stay in the library and you'll be fine."

"I'm guessing I can wear pantyhose the next couple of days." She kissed his chest.

"Yeah. No fucking at work for a couple of days."

"Darn! And Grace in our bed."

"Good thing I fucked you properly just now."

"Properly?" She asked with a surprised voice and he glared at her and gave her a kiss.

"You weren't complaining a couple of minutes ago." He mumbled.

"I didn't know that was the last I'd get for a while."

"If you tell me you love me I'll wake you up half an hour earlier and fuck you again." He laughed.

"That's extortion, Happy." She bit him.

"It's both of us getting what we want." He said and pulled her up to his face. "But you can beg if you want. I'm ok with that as well."

"Nope." She wasn't giving in.

He got up on her again. "No nookie in days. Sure you can handle that you little horny bitch." He moved down and took her nipple in his mouth.

"You're cheating."

"I've never played fair. I play to win." He moved his hand to her behind and squeezed. "You either say it or beg. Either way I'll set the alarm half an hour earlier."

"If I say it, promise I won't have to beg tomorrow."

"Promise. When you wake up I'll already be between you legs." That was something to look forward to. She pulled him up and kissed him.

"I love you." She meant it. And she really liked to tell him but she saved it for these moments. He leaned down again and kissed her neck while circling her nipple with his thumb.

"Again." He whispered and she put her arms around him.

"I love you, Happy." She laughed. "You're kind of horrible for extorting me to say it. But I really do love you. Very much."

He laughed as well. "Three times. That means three orgasms."

"Sounds fair." She said while pushing him down next to her. "I love you."

"Greedy bitch. I'm not giving you orgasms for it when you don't mean it and just say it to get more from me."

"Sounds fair as well." She mumbled against his chest and scooped closer. "Hold me."

"Give me a sec." He leaned over the edge of the bed. "There, even gave you forty-five minutes."

"Thank you." She mumbled when he put his arms around her.

"You're a horny little bitch but I really like it."

"You better. You turned me into this. I had been without for more than six years and was quite fine with it."

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

-o0o-

She had packed down things she needed and Grace had packed things she probably didn't need, but she let her do it herself. She went through the backpack quickly and took out the completely insane things, like stickers.

Happy gave her his bag. "Can you take this in the car?" She took the bag. "Drive directly to the clubhouse, no stopping, no nothing. Ok?"

"Ok." she gave him a kiss.

Happy went ahead of them and she put Grace in the car.

"Are we going to live at the club house again?" Grace asked once they were on their way.

"Just for a couple of days."

"It's ok, I like that."

"There's going to be lots of people there Grace, probably lots of kids as well."

"Ok." Grace was looking out of the window. "Is this because of dad?"

"No honey, this has nothing to do with dad, at all! I promise."

Grace turned and looked at her. "Are we safe? He knows where we live."

Ava had been expecting these questions a lot earlier but she needed to address them now, the second she asked. She pulled to the side of the road and crawled over to the back seat and caressed Grace's face.

"Honey, we are safe, I promise and we are going to stay here."

"For how long?"

"I don't know sweetie, but for now, ok?"

"Ok." She looked up at her, her big blue eyes. "I like it here, my teacher is nice. And I like the garage and Bobby and Tig and Piney and, all of them. They're nice."

"I know you like them and we'll be safe."

"Who came for you, when dad came? Happy said they were sending someone for you."

"It was Piney, Chibs and Opie." She didn't know why Grace wanted to know, but she was ok with telling her that. She wasn't sure how to answer the other questions that might come. About why they were safe.

"I like the new apartment too. I love the painting in my room. It is very nice."

"It is."

Grace was quiet for a while, just looking out the window again. Ava knew that face, she was thinking about something, something that was bothering her.

"You know that we are safe, Grace. That you don't have anything to worry about."

"Ok." That wasn't it. Grace didn't believe her but that wasn't what was bothering her at the moment. It was something else.

"Honey, what's bothering you?"

"Will Happy stay with us?"

"I think so, for now at least." How do you explain the complications of a relationship to a six year old? That even thought you feel like you'd be with a man forever it might end the next month. This to a six year old who has seen her own dad beat up her mom. "I love you baby girl and no matter what, it will always be the two of us, you and me."

"I know mom, I love you too." She said. "I like Happy too, I want him to stay with us."

Shit shit shit. She had been afraid of this. She had fucked up again. "I know, baby girl. I want him to stay with us as well." She would have to deal with Happy going to jail as well. How the the hell would she do that?

There was a knock on the window and Ava jumped, when she turned she saw Half-Sack. She got out from the back seat and saw that he was on the phone.

"Found 'em! They were sitting in the backseat on the side of the road." He was silent for a few seconds. "I don't know, they look ok." Silence and then he gave Ava the phone. "He want's to talk to you."

She didn't need to ask who 'he' was.

"_What the fuck are you doing?" _He was pissed. Very pissed.

"We had a... situation and I needed to talk to Grace, we're ok now and on our way."

"_Do you have any fucking idea how worried I got?"_

"I'm sorry, it was important."

"_How fucking important can it be?"_

"She asked if this was because of her dad and why we weren't moving away now that he knew were we lived. Important enough for you?" She said and than just hung up the phone and handed it to Half-Sack.

"Oohhhh, he's going to be so pissed now." Half-sack muttered to himself and stared at the phone in pure fear when it rang again. Ava just got into the car and drove off.

She went through the gates and was met by an unusually black eyed Happy. She got out of the car and walked over to the other side to let out Grace, picked her luggage and walked towards his dorm. She heard him tell Grace where she could find Kenny and Piper.

His door was locked and she hit it with her palm, turned around and saw him walking towards her, still looking pissed as hell. He unlocked the door and opened it for her, she walked inside and heard him slamming it and locking it.

"Are you out of you fucking mind?" He yelled the second the door was locked.

"It was important! I needed to talk to her?" There were moments in her life when she wished she could yell properly. Like when some cocky bastard was yelling at her.

"I almost freaked out when you didn't show up."

"I was there for ten minutes, probably less!"

"I told you to come straight here."

"Are you even listening to me? I _needed _to talk to her about it. She asked why we're not moving, she's worried, she thought all his was for Jonah. She needed to know that we're safe."

Happy rubbed his head the way he did when he was thinking and looked up at her. "What did you say?" He was calmer.

"That we're staying for now, that we're safe." She looked at him, she would probably regret this. "She asked about you."

"What did she ask?"

"If you were going to stay with us." She needed to know too. Not just for her, she had let him become a huge part of Grace's life, really fast, which probably wasn't very smart of her. That's how she fucked up this time. It had all happened so fast, he stuck around and she let him. She wanted him to. She wanted him to stay with them.

"What did you say?" That pissed her off, he always did that, never answered any questions and made sure she exposed herself first. Found out what her intentions was before revealing his own. Constantly putting her on the spot. Well, he wasn't getting it this time, she wasn't going to give him this. She pushed her way past him and walked towards the door.

He caught up with her and slammed the door shut, leaning towards it with one hand. "What did you say?" Asshole!

"For now." She tried to push him away from the door but he was a big guy, he hardy budged.

"Why did you say that?"

"Because I don't know, what the fuck did you expect me to answer?"

He grabbed her by the shoulders again an pushed her with her back against the door and looked her straight into the eyes. There was a knock on the door. "We're gathering in the bar, get you asses out there." She pushed him away and was out the door seconds later.

It wasn't until she was on her way that she realized that she hadn't been scared, not for a second.

-o0o-

He wondered how bad he had fucked up, if he had scared her. He just wanted to know what she had said to Grace, he needed to know if she wanted him around, because he wasn't going anywhere. But he wasn't stupid, a women with a history like hers wasn't a woman that you said 'you're mine' to. Even if that was what he thought.

In the middle of their fight he figured out why it was hard to be angry with her. It was because she never screamed or yelled. She kept talking in a low voice and it was strange to yell at someone who kept talking in a normal voice. It was disarming.

Tig whistled and Clay started to talk

Juice came towards him with a big smile, gave him a hug and said. "Another fight?"

He pushed him gently in the back but smiled, he liked Juice. He saw Ava next to Lyla and was slightly surprised. They seemed a very unlikely match. Something he also noted was the Crow Eaters, eying her. More importantly, he noticed some of the guys from the other charters eyeing her. He needed to take care of that and make sure that they stayed the fuck away from her.

When Clay's speech was over he went to find her but she wasn't in the couch anymore. He found her next to Gemma and Tara

"Can I talk to you?" She turned around and looked at him, she looked pissed rather than scared. "Just a few minutes." She nodded.

They walked to the room and he closed the door.

"Look, I'm sorry if I scared you."

"You didn't." Well, that was.. good, he assumed. Most people would have been scared shitless. Maybe he was loosing it.

"Ok."

She came up right in front of him and put her hands on his chest, leaning against him. "Hey, you're the one who keep telling me you wouldn't hurt me and that I need to trust you. So I guess I do."

He meant it, but he knew he came out as unsettling to others and he had been really fucking pissed at her. He put his arms around her and his forehead against hers. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Ok." She smiled and kissed him. "I like to hear that."

"I need to go, we've got shit to do. And the next time you pull your car over, you _need_ to call me!" She let go of him and took a few steppes back before they walked outside, she was ahead of him in the hallway. This 'no touching in the clubhouse' was automatic for her by now. He wasn't sure if he liked it.

"I'll consider it." She said with a glare when they came outside, knowing he wouldn't give her a lesson among the others. Stubborn bitch! He pinched her ass as he walked by.

He found Kozik who pointed towards the Chapel, "Church!" Happy walked ahead of him. They stood a few seconds, waiting for the others when Ava walked by.

"She looks like new pussy. I'm gonna get me a piece of that later." Happy snapped his head towards him and just stared it him, he backed up. "What? Shit! Is she yours?"

"Yes."

"Fuck, Hap, sorry man, I had no idea."

Nope, he hadn't lost it. He turned around again and saw Ava walking through the bar and there was more than one guy turning to look at her. He hadn't expected that. He knew why, he usually did the same thing. She was new, fresh meat. It was obvious since she didn't have the clothes most Crow Eaters started to use sooner or later. He needed to make it very clear that she was off the table and not to be touched. Even if she was a friend of the club and they found out, it was still ok to hit on her and he didn't even want anyone to look at her in the wrong way.


	15. You missed a spot

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters. Kurt Sutter does._

_So, the new image-thing took me off guard and I had to do a cover for this story. Re-l Mayer seemed a bit off there. Not sure what I think about that cover-features yet._

_As always. I just love all you people for favs, alerts and above all Reviews. I do love reviews so please let me know what you think._

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**Chapter 15: You missed a spot**

About an hour later, Happy saw Ava leaving for work and a guy following her on his bike. She had a fucking dress again. A black one and that didn't help. They were all looking at her since she fit in about as well as round peg in a square hole.

When she had left Gemma walked up to him. "You need to do something about this, Hap."

"I know."

"She's family but these guys are going to try anyway. They can't order her around but until she's an Old Lady they can push on her. And they can look." She had a taunting smile.

"I know."

"Just wanted to make sure you did."

He sighed. Trust Gemma to point out the obvious, rub it in his face.

During the day they took care of business. They had a meet with the '9ers and the Chinese, close to a playground. He and Bobby were standing away from the table and looked at the kids.

"How's Sunshine?" Bobby asked.

"Fine."

"I heard she had some questions in the car earlier. Half-sack told me." Bobby noticed the eye he was giving him. "Hey, you yell at Ava on the phone with the prospect next to her, I'll find out. Want to keep it your business you put that fucking crow on her."

"Is this the 'get Happy an Old Lady'-week." He snarled. He was fed up with people being all over this.

"No. It's the 'take care of the clubs friends and make sure they are ok'-_year_. She's a friend, you yell at a friend on the phone and in the clubhouse, I give a fuck. You yell at your Old Lady, that's your business." He smiled when he said it. "Sunshine will figure it out you know. She's a smart kid."

"Figure out what?"

"That he's permanently gone."

Happy'd had the same thought. He was just hoping that this was something she would take with Ava, not him. He had no idea how to deal with that shit.

-o0o-

It had all worked out. They had the guns and were chillin' in the bar waiting for nightfall. He watched Grace at a table with Dog, Lorca and Kozic, playing poker. That's when Ava walked in with her guard just behind her, clearly watching her ass and back in the dress.

Grace saw her and ran up to her.

"I'm playing poker!"

Ava leaned forward and gave her a kiss. "Honey, what did we say about hustling bikers?" The guy took a very close look at her ass when she did and Happy was about to stride up to him and knock him out cold. If Grace hadn't been there he would have.

"That it's a bad idea." Grace answered Ava's question and ran back to the table.

"Nice to know that you're listening even if you don't care." She said to Grace's back and started to walk to the dorms.

When she saw hem she smiled at him and as she passed, he caught her around her waist with one arm. She seemed surprised but he wanted them to know that she was his. That they should stay the fuck away. All he got from her was a quick kiss but it was enough so he let go and she continued. It was dead quiet.

He turned towards the bar with his back against the others and the prospect gave him a drink. When the talking started again Juice laughed. "I think they got the message."

"I think they did."

"You could put a bullet in the leg of the next guy who stares at her ass like that. That would make it even more obvious." Juice said as a matter of fact.

"I'm thinking about it." Happy nodded. "If you just get Grace out of the way I'll take care of it."

"Sound like a plan. I'm in if you need me." Tig who was on his other side said and turned around. "I'm gonna go and watch Sunshine humiliate Kozik."

Big Al, a member from one of the Oregon chapters came up to him. "Wanna tell me how that happened?"

"No." It was all Happy said.

"Come on." Sisco, a guy from the same chapter laughed. "How does one capture a classy bitch like that. I mean Big Al's Old Lady is a nice lady. But not even close to that."

"Hey!" Big Al said.

"I killed her ex." Happy said before throwing down his drink. That should really get the message through.

"Maybe I should try that." Sisco said. "Need to find some classy bitch who even bothers to talk to me."

Happy didn't want to talk about it. "How are your kids?" He said to Al. He had spent some time in their chapter earlier that year. He liked them both, he just didn't want to talk about Ava.

Big Al stared at him for a while before laughing. "They're fine. Nice way to change subject."

"I know." Happy said. "How's Oregon?"

-o0o-

Ava went back to the bar once she had changed her clothes. Some of the kids recognized her from the library and asked her if she could read to them. Reading out loud was the best way for her to keep calm so she agreed immediately. They all collected the books they had with them and she decided on "Goodnight Mr. Tom." It was a book that worked for a huge age span and almost everyone loved it.

She spent the next couple of hours reading to them. They were hanging around, listening while they were drawing or playing on their portable games. But whenever she stopped they all looked up at her so she assumed that they were listening.

An old guy with his hands wrapped in bandages were listening in for a while. She smiled at him ans he introduced himself as Chucky and asked if he could listen. She shrugged, she didn't really care who was listening, at the moment this was the best way for her to stay calm and occupied.

He stayed for a while until Clay came and asked him something and he took off.

Finally her throat started to hurt so she excused herself, promised to continue a while later and stepped outside. A woman with black hair and bangs in a blue and white patterned tank top was standing there smoking. Ava walked up to her.

"Any chance I can bum a smoke?"

The woman jumped and looked at her with big eyes and open mouth until she regained her posture. "Sure, no problem."

Ava wasn't sure what that was about but took a cigarette and lit it. From the corner of her eye she saw her looking at her but she didn't say anything and then Grace came running towards her.

"Hi mom!"

"Hi baby girl. You having fun?"

"Yes, Mikey over there has a bike that's almost like Happy's but he has a bitch seat."

"So what? Think I should date him?"

"Nooo." Gracie started laughing and then she ran off again, back to Mike, probably asking him thousand questions per minute. There were loads of new bikers and she was making friends with all of them. According to Tara; Bobby had told everyone that she was their Baby Girl and that Happy would take it very personal if she got hurt or upset. Everyone was looking out for her now. Ava wondered what kind of reputation Happy had since no-one refused Grace anything.

Gemma came outside just as she had finished the cigarette.

"You doing ok darlin'?'"

"Sure, just trying to figure out how to not become excruciatingly bored if I'm supposed to stay in here for days."

"You're doing good, the parents love you, says their thinking about employing you full time to read to their kids."

"It just keeps me calm."

"Your voice keeps everyone calm."

"Thank you." She kissed Gemma on the cheek.

Then she heard bikes pulling in, she saw Happy among them and a few minutes later he came walking with Grace on his arm.

Happy spotted Ava sitting on the picnic table next to Gemma. Grace was talking about Mike and his bike, how it was different from his and why his was much cooler. As long as she liked his the best he didn't argue with her. He leaned over Ava and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"You ok?"

"Yeah."

"She's reading to the kids." Gemma said.

"Yeah, I saw that." He had seen her on the couch surrounded by kids, looking as relaxed as she only did while reading or just after they had fucked.

Grace started squirming in his arms so he put her down and she ran off.

"She said that Mike had a bike like yours but he had a bitch seat." Ava smiled. "But she didn't think I should date him anyway." She had the teasing look in her eyes.

"She said my bike was much cooler."

"Ok, I wont switch then." Teasing bitch, he just kissed her on top of her head again and with a "Be nice!" he walked inside. He needed to get ready for the fight.

Ava's eyes were following him as he walked inside.

"He's going to ink you any day now." Gemma said with a smile.

"He's gonna, what?"

"Mark you, as an Old Lady, his official girlfriend."

"I don't even know what that means." She said. "Clay said I was on and official friend and that it meant I could always get help from the Sons. And mark me, the Crow tattoo?"

"Yes, like this one." Gemma pointed at her cleavage and she saw the crow on the left side of her scar.

Suddenly she felt insecure. Why did they do that, mark their women? It felt... bad.

"Don't you think I've been marked enough?"

"It wouldn't be the same, hon'." The statement was calm but very firm. There was no mistaking that Gemma thought she got it all wrong. But that's how it felt for her. It was just another way of making a mark on a woman to tell others to stay away. Just as Jonah had.

"How would it be different?"

"This is to show you respect, to show others that you have earned respect, for being an Old Lady."

"And for other men to keep their hands off?"

"Still not the same honey." Gemma said.

Tara came stomping up to them, looking royally pissed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ava said, just please to be able to finish the discussion of men marking their women.

"I hit that fucking administrative bitch!" That took Ava off guard. Gemma hitting someone was something that wouldn't surprise her, but Tara?

"What?" Gemma said.

"Fucking bitch came up to me and started mouthing me off, I got pissed, like you said, I'm a healer and she's making me jump to hoops. And I'm a fucking Old Lady. I ain't taking shit from no-one." It sounded slightly as if Tara was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince them.

"Good girl." Gemma gave her a hug.

"You hit someone?" Ava laughed. "Wait, the woman who suspended you?"

"Yeah." Tara looked at her. "What?"

"Nothing." Ava said. "I'm not usually one for hitting women, but if it helps you keep the job I'm all for it."

"I also threatened her and flashed my gun."

Ava just laughed and shook her head, these people and their guns! She gave Tara a kiss on the cheek. "As long as you keep saving lives; I'm on you side."

She went out on the lot and got Grace, she suspected that Mike was fed up with her and all her questions.

-o0o-

They were standing outside but Ava had left Grace inside. She didn't want her to see this, to worry. Because everyone standing there, looking at them, looked worried. She didn't know what to do, Happy had never been big on cuddling with her in public, a light kiss on the forehead or a hand on her back. The holding and kissing her in the clubhouse earlier thatday was the most and she knew why he had done that. To keep the others away. She was ok with that. With both things.

Gemma had explained more about the situation regarding Old Ladies and Crow Eaters, or sweetbutts as they were called sometimes, or if it was two different things, she didn't know. She had never talked to Happy what they had, what it meant, and she didn't know what to say when they did. Gemma told her to tell him exactly how she felt and they could take it from there. It sounded like a good idea. If she had actually known exactly how she felt.

She wasn't sure what was going on with the club. They were going somewhere to fight someone, she assumed it was the Aryans but hadn't asked.

That was another thing, if you were and Old Lady it was full disclosure, he would tell her everything and she didn't see that as a perk, she didn't want to know. She usually figured stuff out anyway and the things she had figured out was enough. He killed people when they asked him to. He wasn't a very high ranking member, he didn't have any of those patches, but she doubted that he cared. He didn't mind bossing her around but that was one thing. She had also noticed that the others respected him, even was intimidated by him judging from how they looked after Grace after Bobby's comment.

He came out from the Club House with a blond guy, he looked around and when he saw her he came up to her. She smiled at him and he got very close leaned over and put his mouth next to her ear.

"Worried?"

"Do I need to be?"

"No. I'll be fine." He stroked her ear with his lips. "Anything else you want to say?" He moved back and looked at her.

"Yeah." She met his eyes and smiled. "Kick their ass." He looked stunned for a second and then he laughed, pulled her to him and gave her a proper kiss. A very proper kiss.

Then he broke it off, caressed her face. "Crazy bitch."

When they drove off Gemma put an arm around Tara and Lyla, giving them each a kiss and pushed them towards the door, then she told Chucky to come with them. When she walked passed her she gave her a hug. "You're going to be one fine Old Lady."

"Why?"

"I heard you. 'Kick their ass'?"

"What was I going to say, 'please be careful'?"

"That's my point. You keep him focused, he knows he doesn't have to worry about you and that's what a man like Hap needs."

"He's been worrying about me enough. I'm fine and safe, thanks to him."

"Good girl." She said and kissed her cheek.

Everyone seemed very tens. She was in the couch with Lyla when a guy in a cut sat down in the couch next to hers.

"So. You're Ava."

She eyed him carefully. "Yes."

"I'm Big Al." He said with a smile. "Grace is your kid?"

"Yes." She had no idea where he was going with this.

"She's a great kid. Asked me about four million questions about my bike earlier."

"Oh. Sorry. She just..."

"...really love bikes. I gathered. Got two kids at home who loves bikes. Not like she does, not like the technical part of it."

"Boys or girls?"

"Boys. All set on becoming Sons. Both of them." Al said with a huge smile. He looked extremely proud.

"How old?"

"Thirteen and eleven." He had the biggest smile. "Markus and Jonathan. They're called Tiny and Skip."

"Tiny and Skip?" It was all about the guns and nicknames with this club. Grace got a new one each day. Ava did like Sunshine though, mostly due to Bobby's explanation. That Grace lit up a room when she walked through the door.

Al gave her a quick explanation to his kids nicknames. "The oldest was born two months premature. He was Tiny. And Skip is like Grace, can't ever stand still, never walks, skips."

She laughed, she knew what he meant, and then she saw Gemma, coming up to them and looked really pissed. "Really Al! You didn't get the message?"

"Sure did. And I'm not stupid. Just talking about her girl."

Gemma glared at him for a while but then her face softened. "Missing your boys?"

"Yeah."

Gemma sat down next to him and they all started talking, including Lyla. About his boys, Grace and Kids in general. Grace came and sat down in her lap a while later. She talked to Al for a while and asked him about his boys, even saw the pictures of them.

"So they like bikes?"

"Yeah." Al smiled. "They're not as smart as you are, but they like bikes." Grace nodded and then yawned.

"Come on, honey. Let's got to bed." She stood up and smiled at Al. "It was really nice to talk to you."

"Nice to talk to you too. Take care of that girl."

"I will." She smiled and gave Lyla and Gemma a kiss. Then she took Grace to bed.

-o0o-

They came back late at night, most of them were up waiting for them and Happy was looking around to find Ava when Gemma came up to him.

"Hi Hap, she went to bed with Grace."

"Ok, thanks."

"Have a drink with me." What was she up to now? He know the Queen, she had a way of getting what she wanted from people. But you didn't say no to her.

"Sure."

She got him a drink and sat down next to him.

"I talk to Ava today, about being and Old Lady." He was really fucking fed up with this. The third talk about him and Ava in one day.

"And?"

"We talked about the ink, she.."

"What, Gemma?"

"... she asked me if I didn't think she's been marked enough."

"Shit!" That was not good. He understood what her problem was, considering what Fuckface had said when he cut her up.

"Just wanted you to know, you need to be careful."

"Thanks, Gemma." He nodded at her. "I need to go to bed."

"Sure. Take care of her."

"You know it."

He hadn't even seen it like that, how would he get around that problem? Because she's going to become his Old Lady, and he wanted her to have that tattoo. He just wanted it to be when they wanted it, both of them. Not when everybody else saw it as good timing.

He got into his room, his girls were both sleeping in the bed. Grace in the middle with her back against Ava who was holding her, her nose in Grace's hair.

He pulled of all his clothes except his boxers. He got up on Ava's side of the bed and kissed her shoulder. She jumped and the turned to look at him.

"Hey."

"Hey, babe. I'm just going to hit the shower and then I'll be with you."

"Ok." She pulled him down for another kiss before turning back and hold Grace again.

He walked into the bathroom and got into the shower. A couple of minutes later he heard the door close and seconds later he felt Ava's naked body pressed against his back. He turned around and found her mouth with his. He lifted her up against the wall and she wrapped her legs around his waist. She grabbed his dick and steered him right.

It didn't take long until she was gripping him with her pussy. "Jesus, Ava! Missed me?"

"Yes." She panted. "I missed you, and when I miss you I want you." He kissed her, horny little bitch, but he loved it. "You always want me."

"I know. Want me to stop wanting you?" She was breathing very heavy.

"No." He kissed her again and when the spasms started he let go of her mouth and leaned forward so she could bite down in his neck, he didn't want them to wake up Grace and he liked when she did that. He came right after her.

He felt her legs shaking so he held her up. She took his hand, it was a bit bruised. "Did you kick their ass?"

"Yeah." He said, pulling her under the water with him. "Got interrupted, we'll finish it tomorrow."

"Ok."

"When this is over, I want you to meet my mom." She looked at him with big eyes. His mom had been nagging him like crazy whenever they talked on the phone.

"Sure?"

"She's nice, she'll like you. And she'll love Grace."

She kissed him, "Ok, just make sure you do it before you have to go to jail." She stepped out and grabbed a towel on the way.

When he came out of the bathroom she was back in bed, holding Grace. He laid down, facing them, holding Ava's hand.

-o0o-

When Ava woke up in the morning she heard Happy and Grace in the bathroom. She decided that this was her best chance to listen in on their conversations.

"What is her name?"

"Marianne." Ava assumed that they were talking about his mom.

"You never told me about her." Grace was pouting, Ava didn't have to see her to know that she was.

"Never thought about it, Sugar."

"What's she like?" Happy laughed at the question and Grace seemed confused. "Why are you laughing?"

"She asked the same thing about you and your mom." He paused for a second. "Give me that."

"What, this?"

"No, the towel." The next sentence was muffled, he was probably drying his face. "She's nice but very sick."

"Oh. But I will meet her?"

"Sure. In a while. She wants to meet you too."

"Ok. Good." Grace started singing something but soon stopped. "Think she'll like me?"

"Sugar, everyone likes you. It's impossible not to like you."

"Really?"

"Really. Go wake your mom up."

"Kiss." She heard the kiss and then Grace came running. "Mom!"

"I'm up, honey." Ava put on pants and put her hair up. "Hungry?"

"Yes!"

"I'm sure Gemma or Bobby have breakfast ready. If none of the Charming guys are out there I want you to come straight back. Ok?"

"Ok. If Kozik is there, can I stay?"

"No." She didn't know Kozik.

Grace pouted. "Why?"

"Because I said so. I don't know him."

"Ok."

Ava went into the bathroom and sat down on the toilet. "So, what was it with that very public performance yesterday?"

"Just wanted to make sure they stay away."

"Stay away?" She wasn't sure what she meant and the she remembered the comment about being 'up for grabs'. "Oh. Is this about the 'Old Lady'-thing again?"

"Yes. It's about the 'Old Lady'-thing. And that you're not an Old Lady."

Happy watched her and she looked very uncomfortable.

"Can we not do this right now?" She finally asked.

He knelt down in front of her. "Ok. I just want them to know..." Fuck! This wasn't easy at all. He had know fucking idea how to do this.

He felt her hands on his cheeks. "Know what?"

"That you're mine. I know that's probably not what you..." She interrupted him with a kiss.

"I know what you mean. I know it's not the same as when he said it."

The relief he felt was physical. "Good." He gave her another kiss. "Because you're mine." This was not the time to press her about becoming an official Old Lady. Not in the bathroom of his dorm at the clubhouse.

"You missed a spot." She said and rubbed her fingers on her head.

Handing her the razor he smiled. "Fix it." He watched her when she shaved it and then rinsing the razor before giving him a kiss on the head.

"There, shining like an eight-ball."

"Bitch!" He stood up and pulled her with him. "No flirting today."

"Darn! That was my favorite activity yesterday. Especially with the huge bearded guys. It was smorgasbord of them."

"Be nice!" He tried to sound like he was teasing her but he didn't like to hear that.

"I'll be really nice." She kissed him again but and smiled so he relaxed a bit. He didn't want her to worry.

"Stay close to Gemma and Tara, ok?"

"Ok." He let go of her and went into the room to get dressed. "Hey!" He hear her say behind him.

"Yes?"

"Really. Don't worry." She smiled. "I'm not very good at flirting anyway and..."

"And?"

"I'm kind of into you."

Happy laughed. "Into me? What are you, fourteen?"

"You make me horny as hell. That better?"

"Much." He strode up to her and kissed her again. "Much better." Something that was even better than that was that she loved him.

-o0o-

He was in the garage, waiting for the others who were at the police station. He was working on his bike and Grace was sitting next to him, holding her legs with her chin on her knees, she looked exactly like her mom. She even had the same distant look as Ava usually had when she sat like that. And he knew what it meant, she was thinking about something that was bothering her.

"What's on you mind, baby girl?"

"We usually move after he's found us."

"You're not going to move, Sugar." Happy said, tightening a bolt.

"But he knows we're here."

He turned and looked at her. "Hey, you don't have to worry about him, he won't ever hurt you or your mom again, ok?"

Her big, beautiful blue eyes were staring into his. "You killed him."

Shit fuck shit fuck and fuck. He would give his right arm and left nut if it meant that Ava would just walk up behind him right this second. He had no fucking idea how to handle this. Ava was right, this girls was to smart for her own good. "Happy?" She said and got up and walked up to him. And it was impossible to lie to her.

"Yes." He admitted and rubbed his head. Ava was going to kill _him_ for this.

Grace put her arms around his neck. "I won't ever tell anyone."

"Oh, Sugar." She shouldn't have to give promises like that. He felt like an asshole. "I'm sorry."

She hugged him and whispered into his ear. "I love you, Happy." It felt like his heart was going to burst into a million pieces. He hugged her tight, smelling her hair.

"I love you too, Grace."

He did, this perfect girl, he would do anything for her. He would have to tell Ava about this. That would suck.


	16. I'm just not sure you know it yet

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters. Kurt Sutter does._

_If this story get's taken down, I have an account at Archive of our Own. I't not up there and I've only started to publish Eight Simple 'Never's' there. But. If they pull it down her I'll have it up as soon as possible there. Just so you know._

_Thank you. All of you for reading, reviewing, publishing and for favs!_

_Noticed when I uploaded this that it was a very short chapter for being one of mine. I'll make it up to you and upload the next as soon as possible.  
_

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**Chapter 16: I'm just not sure you know it yet**

They were all walking out of the room she now knew was called The Chapel, they all carried weapons and they looked pissed. Once again she had no idea of what was going on. She heard the bikes when the drove off. She looked around but couldn't Gemma or Tara so she found Grace and took her into Happy's room and they laid down to read some more.

They both fell asleep and she was waken up by Happy.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Some shit happened, you'll be safe thought, you should go home."

"Ok, wanna talk about it."

"Not now, it's just a mess here. I'll stick around here for a while. I'll meet you at home."

"Ok, I'll pack everything, can you help me with Grace? Just to carry her out to the car."

"Sure."

She packed up her stuff and they walked out to the car. Happy was carrying Grace and when she threw the bags in the back she saw him kissing her in the car seat. He got around the car and hugged her, really hard.

"I'll see you later babe, don't wait up."

"Ok."

She got home and left most of the stuff in the car and just got Grace inside, took a shower and went to bed.

He crawled into bed and she looked at the alarm clock, 4 am. She felt his arm around her waist and she turned around. He didn't look tired and he should, as far as she knew he was up before eight that morning.

"What happened?" Sometimes it was best to just flat out ask, this was that time.

"Gemma is suspected for murder, Half-Sack got killed and Cameron took Abel." He said, just looking at her.

She didn't even know how to breath for a while. "Took Abel?"

"Yeah, it's a fucking mess."

"And Gemma, what happened?"

"I'm not sure, no one seems sure. Clay sent Tig after her, we'll know more tomorrow."

"Half-Sack."

"Cameron killed him when he tried to save Abel."

"Jesus! I don't even know where to start, it's just... shit!"

"There's more."

"Shit!"

"I was in the garage with Grace today, she asked about Jonah, why you weren't running. I told her she didn't have to worry. That you were going to stay here."

"She figured it out?"

"Yeah, flat out asked me if I killed him." She was just stunned, there was just a little to much, to fast. "I'm sorry, babe."

"Shit!" She kept looking at him. "I knew she would figure it out. What did you say?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"She told me she wouldn't tell anyone." Ava smiled, what else could she do. Her baby girl, she had seen her dad do some horrible things, she had been afraid of him her entire life. She knew exactly how Grace felt, she had felt the same thing when Happy told her. Relief.

"Anything else." She looked at Happy, he had a strange look on his face, he looked... she didn't know what he looked, proud? "Tell me."

"She said that..." he smiled, "She loved me."

Ava was stunned, really, truly just fucking baffled. Not only at the fact that Grace had said that but at Happy's expression. It took her a while but then she hugged him and looked at him.

"Well, at least one good thing happened today then."

"True, fucking awesome." He still had a weird smile on his lips.

"And you, what did you say?"

"Told her I loved her to." She couldn't stop smiling.

"Promise me something."

"What?"

"Even if you leave me, or we fuck this up or anything like that..."

"We're not."

"You don't know that, but please, don't abandon her. Even if you start to hate me."

"I won't hate you."

"Please."

"I won't leave her, and even if I tried the others would hunt me down, you know that."

"Ok." She relaxed a bit. "It's just... she's really happy here, with you and the others and... she deserves to be. I haven't..."

"Hey. Any kid would be lucky to have a mom like you, who fought for her like you did. Do you know why Gemma gave her that phone?"

"Yes, she told me." She knew that the fact that Grace had that phoned had saved her. She still didn't like that someone put that much responsibility on a child. She also knew that was the reason Gemma asked Grace not to tell anyone.

"You pulled that fuckface further into the apartment, trapping yourself, just so she could get out. Pisses me off when I think about it, but still. Don't you dare say that you've been a bad mom in anyway. Ever."

She just looked at him. "Thank you. I needed that."

He kissed her, holding her tighter and she felt a need for him, she needed him close.

"I need you."

"I know."

She felt his hands, inside her panties and she moaned into his mouth.

It was rough, he took her hard, but he kept kissing her the entire time while holding on to the back of her thigh, thrusting into her. Then she felt it, deep in her stomach and her toes curled up and she autocratically arched her back.

"Oh my god, Hap, please." She rolled back her head and he bent down and took her breast in his mouth, sucking hard and prolonged the orgasm even further, it felt like it would never stop. His cock swelled and he started to moan, still holding on to her breast.

He let go and his head was next to hers. "Oh fuck, Jesus fucking christ, Ava." And he pushed even harder a couple of times before relaxing on top of her.

He was lying on her, holding her hard, panting then he rolled off. Looking at her.

"You need to find Abel." She said.

"We will." Happy sounded very confident. "It's going to be crazy for a while."

"I kind of figured that out.

"Smarty pants!" He smiled. He kissed her again. "Go back to sleep."

"Ok. If you hold me." She felt his arm circling her waist and he pulled her close. When

-o0o-

Sometime during the night she was woken up by Grace, climbing into their bed and when she woke up in the morning Grace was awake, lying perfectly still, looking at Happy's back.

**"**What are you doing, honey?"

"Just looking, he has playing cards on his back and dices."

"I know."

"And on his arm there are very nice flowers, I like those."

"Which one do you like best?"

"I like the Chinese lady on his arm." They couldn't see it now since his back was against them but Ava knew which one she meant.

"It's a geisha sweetie, Japanese."

"Still like it best. Some of them are scary." Grace said and moved her hand over some of the more demon like tattoos. She was leaning over his side, looking at his chest. He woke up and caught her, turned around and put her in between them.

"What are you doing, Sugar?"

"Looking at your tattoos."

"Like 'em?"

"Some are scary, but I like the Japanese lady, and the snakes and the flowers." She kept looking at him, closely while he watched her, studying him. Ava gave her a kiss and got out of bed to find something for breakfast. "Mom, when can I have a tattoo?" Happy laughed when Ava shot him a glance.

"When you're eighteen."

"That's a really long time." Grace was still looking at Happy "Happy can make tattoos."Ava turned and looked at him and he was still smiling. "It's true." He looked at her and smiled. She hadn't known that.

"Well, Happy's still going to have to wait until your eighteen."**  
****  
****"**When are you getting a tattoo?" She glared at Happy again and he was suddenly very focused on Grace but she could see the twitch in the corner of his mouth. "Happy can make if for you, right?"

"Sure." He said, still only looking at Grace. "I could make a crow."

"Oh, a bird like the one Gemma has. I like that." Grace said and Ava could fell her teeth grinding. She shot one final look at Happy and was glad she had finished getting dressed. She wanted to get out of there.

"I'm making scones for breakfast." She said and walked out to the kitchen. Sneaky fuck! She thought to had her hands in the dough when Happy came out, holding her from behind and kissed her neck. Then he went for the coffee. When she was done and turned around he was leaning against the counter wearing only a pair of jeans, just looking at her. She washed her hands and then took a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter next to him.

"

You don't want to become an old lady?" He asked.

"I... I don't know Hap. I don't even know what this is, you and me. And... I don't know."

"What's the biggest problem?"

"I don't understand the rules, with relationships or in the club or even what an Old Lady means."

**"**The rules are whatever we make them, babe."

"Still... I... Shit!" She looked at him. "What would the rules be?"

"What do you want them to be?"  
**  
"**_Don't_! I mean it. You brought this up, you tell me what you want."He put his arms around her waist, took her cup and put it down on the counter. "I want you, I want you to wait for me while I'm inside."

"So no prison clause?" She did it just to tease him. Gemma had told her about it, said she should use for leverage. He glared at her, he kind of looked pissed.

"She told you about that?"

"Yes."

"No, I don't want a prison clause." He pulled her hair to get her chin up and then he kissed her. Then he looked at her again. "Why? You want it?""Don't worry."

"What do you want?" He asked. She thought about it, what did she want? But it wasn't just**  
****  
"**I don't know, I want you. I want to be the only girl you kiss, the only girl you give head, and preferably the only girl who sleeps next to you. Besides that... I don't want to meet any of the other girls. EVER! And I want to be the only girl you have a real relationship with."

"You're not going to tell me to now have sex with anyone else?" He looked surprised.

"No. I just don't want to know about it."

"You don't think you're worth it?"

"I know I am. I'm just not sure you know it yet." She said with a smile, kissed him on the cheek and then walked away. "Oh, and if you give me some STD you're out the door. Just so you know."

Happy watched her walk away towards the bathroom. He was stunned. Smart bitch! The things she asked for wasn't anything he wouldn't have done anyway, it was pretty much the normal deal, and she probably knew that. But it wasn't something a normal woman would agree to, but her answer to his question was what blew him away. 'I know I am. I'm just not sure you know yet.' She was, he knew it. He went after her and found her brushing her teeth in the bathroom.

"I'll make a deal with you. Until I go inside I'll stick to you. And we'll talk when I get out again. I'll agree to all the things you said, don't worry about it, but anything beyond that we'll just figure out later. Ok?"

"Ok." She smiled at him. "So I'm not getting the prison clause?"

"No."

"What are you giving me for that?" She put her arms around his waist and bit his chin.

"Give you?"

"You're going to leave me for God knows how long, without sex. So... I want something in return."

"You said you didn't want the claus." She was starting to piss him off. She wanted to fuck others? He felt his jaws clench. Finally he couldn't hold it back. "So you want to fuck others?"

"Do you?" She let go of him and took a step back.

He didn't want to talk about this. Sometimes she seemed to fit right in with the club and the life and other times she did stuff like this.

"I told you. We can talk about this when I get out. I'll stick to you until I go inside." She put the toothbrush in the holder and walked outside. "Where are you going?"

"Grace, come on and I'll get you breakfast." She was fucking ignoring him. That pissed him off more than anything. And why the fuck was she brushing her teeth before eating the scones?

He followed her into the kitchen and had breakfast with Grace while Ava was getting ready for work. She came out into the kitchen in a black skirt, white shirt and with high healed shoes and huge earrings. She had her hair down, something she rarely had at work. She gave Grace a kiss and then started to walk to the hallway. He got up and followed her.

"Wanna tell me what the fuck this is about?" He said in a low voice since he didn't want Grace to hear.

"I need to get to work, Happy." She avoided to even look at him and reached for the door.

"Don't fucking shut me out. Tell me!" He said and got in between her and the door.

"It's very convenient for you. Telling me you'll stick to me until you go inside and no prison clause and then we'll decide when you get out if _you're_ going to _fuck_ other women or not." She looked extremely pissed and he was stunned, she pushed him back and walked outside. "See you tonight, Honey!" She said in a louder voice to Grace and then closed the door.

"Are you fighting?" He heard Grace behind him and turned around and saw her standing in the door to the kitchen. Great! Perfect fucking timing!

"No."

She looked at him. "You're lying."

Sometimes it was extremely irritating, not being able to hide shit from her. And he was pissed at Ava for leaving him with this. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Sugar. It's... complicated." Her big blue eyes were staring at him.

"Will you be friends again?"

He knelt down in front of her. "Yes." She looked at him for a while and then she picked up her helmet.

"Can we go?"

He took her to school and when he lifted her off the bike she wouldn't look at him. She had the same face as Ava had earlier the same morning. Sometimes have two of them was great and sometimes it was just twice the trouble. Like now. Two stubborn ladies with the same expression on their face. One would have been more than enough.

"Are you pissed as well?"

"I don't like it when you fight."

"It's the first fight." He was trying to win time. She rolled her eyes at him. "Ok. That was..."

"Lame and another lie."

"Lame?" He started to laugh.

"Peter said that yesterday when Vera made a suckie joke."

"Peter Worthington?" Was she still hanging out with him? Was that something he should worry about? He needed to talk to Tig about this, he had two girls.

"Yes." She was still standing just looking at him.

"We had a fight. It will probably happen again." Considering how fucking stubborn she was there was no way around that.

"Are you friends now?"

"Not yet."

"Did you say you're sorry?"

"No."

"You should try that." He sighed. "Please?" Grace looked at him with huge, begging, eyes.

"I'll talk to her, ok?"

"Ok." She started to walk away and he got off his bike and followed her. When he reach her she picked her up.

"Going somewhere with my kiss?"

She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss. "Love you."

"Good."

Grace laughed. "You're supposed to say it back."

"Oh, ok. Love you, Sugar."

He kept his eyes on her until she was through the doors. He realized that they hadn't told her about what happened and they needed to do that. Another thing that would suck.

When he turned around one of the parents was staring at him, then he noticed quite a few parents staring at him. He ignored them and got on his bike and drove off. Fucking pricks!


	17. Did you drive here?

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the Character's. All hail to Kurt Sutter, who does._

_Since the last chapter was a bit shorter than they usually are, I'm compensating by not letting you wait for the next._

_As always; I'm extremely thankful for all your support, favs, alerts and above all; Reviews! I love them!_

* * *

**Chapter 17: Did you drive here?**

Ava quickly walked through the library and closed the door to her office and sat down and breathed for a while. She took another few breaths and went to work. She had loads to do that day and started off with the orders. She had about an hour until one of the seller would arrive in a couple of hours and she needed to calm down.

The representative, a man who insisted that she called him Marcus, also insisted on buying her lunch so they walked to a restaurant on Main Street. It was a civil lunch, they talked about literature and upcoming big releases and in general what favorite books they had. When they were done, he left her outside the restaurant and she walked back to the library.

"How was the lunch?" James said when they met in front of the reception.

"Fine." She sighed, it had been nice but part of her brain was completely focused on Happy.

"The police has been here looking for you. I told them you'd be back in about an hour. Said they'd be back later in the afternoon."

Great, another thing for her brain to keep focus on. This day was getting worse by the minute. "Ok. Thank you."

She had tried to call both Tara and Gemma but none of them had picket up their phone. Something that seemed understandable considering the circumstances, but she was still worried.

"Wanna tell me who the fuck you were having dinner with?" She jumped when she heard the voice and turned around to see Happy in an armchair.

"Lunch." She corrected him. "Marcus Coleman. He's a seller for a couple of publishing house."

"And he bought you lunch?"

"Yes." She sighed. She could see where this was going. "Just follow me to the office."

Happy got out of the chair and followed her. She went inside and put her handbag on her desk and turned around.

"Why did he do that?" Happy asked and he looked pissed. She wondered how he had known that she had been to lunch with Marcus.

"They do that. They come here, talk about upcoming releases and then, quite often, buy lunch or dinner." Happy still looked pissed. "Can you please tell me what's really bothering you."

"Is he one of them?"

"One of what?" She had no idea what he was talking about. If Marcus was one of the sellers or... what?

"That you wanna fuck when I'm inside."

"No." She sat down on her desk. "God damn it, Happy. There is no-one else I want to be with."

"Then what's the fucking problem?"

"I kind of wished you had the same feeling." She got up again and wanted the discussion to end. She didn't want to do this at work. "I've been trying to call Gemma and Tara."

"You won't be able to talk to Gemma for a while and Tara is probably being questioned by the police." He was still staring at her.

"They've been here, looking for me as well. They were going to come back later this afternoon."

"Who?"

"The police. I don't know who." She sighed and for the thousand time that day collected the hair in the back of her neck and twisted it in an attempt to keep it there. She had been so pissed in the morning that she forgot to put it up. "I need to work. I have a class coming here in the afternoon and I've got things to fix before that."

He nodded and walked up to her. "I don't."

"Happy, you're doing it again."

"Doing what?" He said and by now he was just in front of her.

"Using to few words for me to understand what it is you're trying to say."

He was just standing there, he didn't touch her but was about as close as he could be without doing it. "I don't want to fuck others."

"While you're inside."

"No. Or right now."

"Well, to quote you; then what is the fucking problem?" She was tired and worried. Not just about Happy, about everything else as well and it was a busy day for her.

He suddenly smiled. "I might change my mind."

"Then leave me and you can fuck whoever you want." She wasn't smiling, she didn't find it even remotely funny or charming. "I need to work. I'll call Mary to pick up Grace."

"You seemed ok with it this morning."

"I wasn't 'ok' with it. I didn't think you'd agree too it and I still don't." She backed up and walked passed him to open the door to the office.

That fucking did it for Happy. Walking by him and opening the door! Like he was some kid she could just send out. He took a few huge steps and closed the door again and pressed her up against the wall.

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know. I'm tired, stressed out about all this shit. I still don't understand the rules about this. The club, you and me. I love you, but no matter what I said this morning..."

"What?" If she didn't mean it why did she say it? Happy didn't understand any of this.

"It hurts."

"What hurts?"

"That you're having sex with others." What the fuck was she thinking? When the hell would he have time to do that? Or the fucking energy?

"I'm not." She was looking down on her shoes. "Look at me." She turned her eyes to him. "I'm not."

"Ok." He wasn't sure if she believed him. They would have to get back to that but his wasn't the time of the place. And he was too pissed and they it was her work.

"There's a lot of shit going on."

"I know."

He leaned closer, holding her jaw and hip. "I'll stick to you. I'm not going to argue with you about this now and considering the amount of fucks you're requiring right now it's not like I could even get it up with anyone else."

She finally gave him a smile, even if it was a tired one. "Ok."

"Hey. I'm new to this. I don't... do this. Girlfriends or Old Ladies."

"Ok." There was a lot of 'ok's coming out of her mouth and he didn't think she was. Ok.

"We'll figure this out." She just nodded and she looked... sad. "If it makes you happier Grace is pissed at me as well."

"It does." She was still just standing there.

"Fuck! Ava, just tell me what to do."

"I don't know. Just... give me some time. Ok?" He was pissed again. Fucking hell, this was why he fucked bitches and sent them out.

"How? Want me to stay the fuck away?"

"Happy! I have have no idea! Just... Fuck!" She wasn't screaming, but she never did. Something he sometimes wish she did. It would make it easier. This calm anger was freaking him out. The word 'fuck' rarely did come out of her mouth though, unless she asked him to do it. But it had the last few minutes. "I don't know, Happy. Can we do this later? I'm... I'm to tired to even know what I'm saying and you're so wired up we're not going to solve anything right now."

"I'm not staying away."

"Then don't." She looked up at him and put her hand on his cheek. "I like having you around."

He leaned down and gave her a kiss. There was no fucking way in hell he was going to stay away. He was going to stay on her like fucking glue until he went inside.

"If you talk to Gemma, don't mention Abel."

"Ok. Will you fill me in later?"

"Yeah."

"What about the police?"

"You don't know much anyway. And you're smart, you'll figure it out." He kissed her again. "Call me when you've talked to the cops."

-o0o-

When Happy had left, Ava sat down and rested her head in her hands. It was a bit much. She turned on her computer and then walked outside to sort books. It was a very quiet day at the library. It was as if the entire town was holding it's breath. She had noticed it at the restaurant as well.

A few hours she saw agent Stahl walking up the stairs next to a man and she sighed.

"I'm sure you remember me."

"Yes." This time she wasn't even going to try to smile.

"This is Agent Wright." She nodded at him.

"Want to do this in my office?" She asked.

"Yes please, that would be just fine." Stahls said with a smile. "Any chance you could offer us some coffee." Ava didn't bother to answer, just glared at her. "Maybe not."

When she was at her desk and the agents in the two visitor's chairs she started at them.

"I'm sure you're informed of what happened."

"Not really."

"Gemma killed a man, the man's father kidnapped Abel and killed Kip Epps." Stahl was studying her and with one of her annoying twitches on her head she glared at Ava, slightly form the side. "No comments on that at all?"

"No."

"Anything you could say would help us find Abel. Even things you wouldn't see as important." Agent Wright said.

"My collected knowledge of all this was just summed up by Agent Stahl. I don't know anything else."

"Do you know how the Irish is connected to the sons?" Stahl wasn't even trying to be nice anymore. If she ever did. The smiles were hardly friendly to begin with.

"The Irish?" She had no fucking idea what she was talking about.

"Oh now. We know that the Sons keep their Old Ladies quite well informed." Stahl said.

"The first time I heard the term Old Lady was from you. I'm not an Old Lady."

"I was under the impression that you were with Happy Lowman." Agent Wright said and kept looking between her and Agent Stahl. Stahl had probably informed him with what she found important, no matter how true it was or wasn't.

"I am." She looked at him. "What about the Irish?"

"The man who took Abel was Irish."

"I didn't know that either." She just knew his name was Cameron, but Happy had never told her that he was Irish and she had never met him.

Agent Stahl suddenly change the subject. "Jonah Richardson is missing, his parents reported him missing three weeks ago and no-one seems to have seen him since."

"I didn't know that." Ava answered truthfully. She knew that he was missing, but not that his parents had reported him missing.

"You took a week's sick-leave around the time he disappeared. Why?"

"I had Chickenpox."

"Did Grace have it as well?"

"No, she had it when she was a child." That was true and Ava had it at the same time but there was no records of that anywhere. This time on the other hand Tara had given her a sick note to cover her being home, or at the club, for a week. Obviously Stahl knew that she was lying, but she couldn't prove shit. Her back was so messed up anyway, the new scars didn't really stand out anymore and the bruises on her neck and cheek had faded.

"If he shows up I'm sure you'd inform us."

"If he shows up I won't be around anymore. I tend to leave the city when he shows up. I'm sure you're aware of that."

Stahl was smiling at her now. But it still wasn't a very nice smile. It was a 'I'm smarter than you smile' God! Ava had only met her twice and she hated her guts. "So you don't know anything about the Irish or where Gemma is?"

"No."

"I guess we're done here then." Stahl got up and the other Agent mostly seemed confused. Ava rose as well and followed them to the door. "Please contact us if you find something out."

"Of course." She smiled

"Jonah's parents wanted you to contact them." Ava very much doubted that. They hated her, always had. Jonah was their precocious son and nothing he did could ever be wrong. One of the few times she had taken him to court they had been standing outside of the court room and yelled at her. That she was lying and that their son was a good man. "It was something about visitation rights with Grace."

That was below the belt but Ava refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing her hurt.

"They'll just have to go through the regular channels. I'm not going to call them or tell them where I live."

"Have a nice day." Stahl said with a smile when she left.

She waited a few minutes and then called Happy to tell him what had been said. It was a very to the point-conversation and she hated it. She knew she sounded like a bitch on the phone but she was tired and hurt. He said he might be late if he could come at all she just said ok. She had a feeling that this was some stunt from him to point out that she didn't own him.

-o0o-

The mood in the clubhouse was low. To say the least. They were all getting drunk. For Half-sack, for Jax and Abel, for Gemma and for the general shit situation that should have been solved the day before.

Happy was drinking for Ava as well. He tried to forget those teasing amber fucking eyes, her amazing fucking lips and that tight wet pussy that he kept coming back for. He had no idea how he ended up so twisted for a bitch and wanted to hate her for it. And Grace. A kid! He didn't even like kids! And now he was all caught up in a kid who kept telling him that she loved him and he liked to hear it and her mom, that told him she loved him to. If he begged. He had never begged for a bitch and that was another thing he hated. He begged!

He had been on his way to see her at work when he saw her walking into the restaurant, that slick suit had his fucking hand on her arm and she didn't fucking flinch! He fucking touched her and she didn't react. Happy knew that she didn't react when he touched her but he had hoped that it was just him. That she still didn't like others touching her. Looked like he had done a too good job to get her accept him closer. He had been thinking about walking up to them and introduce himself to that Suit. But he wasn't sure if he could keep himself from shooting him for touching his girl. Instead he had been waiting for her at the library.

When she called he had told her that he might not be home tonight, that he had things to do. He didn't. He just wanted her to freak out the way he did by the thought of her with someone else. She didn't freak out. She just sounded as tired as she had the entire day and with an 'ok' she hung up.

He wanted to talk to Tig about Grace but he was with Gemma but he remembered that Chibs had a daughter and sat down next to him

"Hey! You've got daughter."

"Aye." Chibs agreed.

"When do they start with boys?"

"What?" Chibs seemed confused. "Fuck do I know? I haven't seen her in years. Why you askin'?"

"Grace hangs out with this kid. Peter Worthington. Think he's like, I don't know, have a crush on her. Is that what you say?"

"Again; Fuck do I know? Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Just wondering."

"Sunshine's six. It's not like he's going to knock her up." Chibs laughed.

Happy just frowned. He had no idea how to do all this shit with kids. He would suck as a... dad. Shit! Was that what he would be like? A dad! He poured more whiskey for himself.

At midnight he was piss drunk and one of the Crow Eaters had her arms around his neck, whispering promises in his ear and it didn't do shit to his dick. He didn't want her. That made him hate Ava even more.

He went outside and sat on his bike and drove to Ava's place. He was furious with her, fucking with his head, trying to make him stop fucking others. She would have to get used to it, if not she could go to hell. He was going to tell her some fucking truths about a woman's place in the club. What she needed to do and accept if she wanted to be with him.

He had some problems with getting the key into the door and when he finally managed to get inside he stumbled over that stupid, pink fucking backpack. Couldn't that kid pick up her fucking things instead of leaving them everywhere? When he was going to take of his shoes he almost fell over so he sat down on the floor to do it.

"Happy?"

He looked up and saw Ava in the hallway. She turned on the light and he noticed the huge t-shirt. It looked like one of his but for some reasons he had a hard time to see properly. Everything was a blur.

"I need to talk to you." He said while pointing at her blinking heavily to shield his eyes from the bright light and at the same time trying blink away the blur.

She kneeled down in front of him and started to help him with the shoes. He might not see properly but his sense of smell was intact. He hair smelled of lemons and honey. Just like it always did and he inhaled deeply.

"Jesus Christ, Happy. Did you drive here?" She said. That fucking voice, that's one of the things that had been driving him insane since the first time he met her. Everything about her drove him insane.

"I'm an excellent fucking driver." Was she seriously going to give him shit for that? He could drive his fucking bike no matter what!

"I'm sure." She smiled and suddenly he wasn't angry anymore. "Come on. I'll help you to bed."

"You're not going to yell at me?" He said when she pulled him up and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I can't yell, and I don't see the point. You're not going to remember any of this in the morning anyway."

"I'll remember." He knew he would. He rarely got drunk enough to blackout. He had tried quite a few times.

"Come on. I'll help you with your clothes." She pulled off his cut and continued with the hoodie and t-shirt he had underneath.

"I was going to yell at you." He mumbled when she opened his belt.

"Why?"

"You fucked me up."

"How?" She said while pulling down his pants and pushing him down to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I can't stop thinking about you. Or Grace. A Crow Eater was hanging around my neck and I didn't want to fuck her. I wanted you instead." She laughed when he said that. "I'm all tied down by you and I want to hate you for it but just thinking about you with someone else drives me insane. And I made a fucking tattoo for you! I once swore I would never to a tattoo for a bitch."

"You, what?" She asked him but he wasn't even listening to her. He needed her to understand what she was doing to him, but his head was spinning.

"You fucked me up." That was the only thing he could think of to explain it.

"Go to sleep, Happy." She said and pushed him down on the bed and lifted up his feet. "You can yell at me tomorrow instead."

"I don't want to yell anymore. I never want to yell when I see you. That pisses me off too." He took her arm and pulled her down. "And you make me beg. No bitch has ever made me beg. I should hate you for that too."

"You make me beg." She mumbled when she climbed over him and laid down next to him.

"Not the same. You're a chick." He pulled her closer but he didn't like the t-shirt and tried to take it off her. "Take this shit off."

She sat up, pulled it off and laid down again with her back against him. He pulled her closer, holding her with one hand on her tit. He loved holding her like that while stroking her nipple with his thumb.

"Go to sleep, Happy."

"I'm horny."

"Considering how drunk you are, I doubt that you'll be able to get it up. And even if you did it would take you ages to come and frankly; I'm scared you'd fall asleep on me and smother me to death."

"I could never fall asleep when I'm fucking you. You're pussy is the best."

She chuckled and kissed his arm. "Just sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."

He was tired and completely relaxed, just as he always was when he was with her. He pulled her even closer and put his nose in her hair. Fucking bitch! Invading his brain, driving him insane. He couldn't hold it inside any longer. "I love you." He fucking did, he hated that he did but he didn't hate her.

"Tell me when you're not drunk and I might believe you." She said and he could hear the laughter in her voice. He told her and she didn't believe him!

"Not sure I can."

"Ok." She hugged the arm he had around her. "I understand."

"Please!" He mumbled into her hair. He knew that she'd understand what he meant.

"I love you too, Happy."

He sighed, kissed her hair again. "And I love Grace."

"I know."

"Please don't fuck anyone else while I'm inside."

"I won't. I promise."

It felt like he could finally breath properly for the first time since the fight that morning. A while later he fell asleep, still holding her in an iron grip.


	18. To live life assuming otherwise

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of it's characters, Kurt Sutter and FX does._

_Thank you! You are all amazing and I love each and everyone of the reviews, favs and alerts! The response to this story is overwhelming. I'm just baffled. Thank you!_

* * *

**Chapter 18: To live life assuming otherwise is insanity**

When Ava woke up in the morning she felt the hangover stench next to her. She turned around and watched Happy, on his back, snoring extremely loud. It was 6 AM so she went up, closed the door to the bedroom and went out to make breakfast. Grace came a while later.

"Is that Happy?" She opened the door and laughed. "Wow, he's snoring really loud. What is that smell?"

"It's nothing, come on love, he needs to sleep." She pulled Grace from the door but went inside to open the balcony door before going back to the kitchen.

"Are you friends now?" Grace asked while eating her breakfast a litte later.

"I think so. Don't worry about it, honey." She made him some coffee, a toast with only butter, took two painkillers and a glass of dehydration solution, put it all on a tray and went into the bedroom.

She sat down on the bed and gently stroke his cheek. "Happy."

"Mhmmm?" He turned around and grabbed his head. "Oh, fuck!"

"I made you some breakfast. And I've got painkillers and dehydration solution. It'll take away the worst of the hangover."

He sat up and took the pills and the glass. "Dehydration?" He mumbled.

"The headache is mostly due to dehydration."

He swallowed the pills and emptied the glass then he looked at her. She smiled and before any of them said anything Grace came into the bedroom.

"Can you take me to school, Happy?"

Before he even had opened his mouth, Ava answered her. "Happy isn't feeling well. I'll take you today."

She might not have been to keen on the idea of him driving drunk, but that was his stupid fucking choice. Him taking Grace on the bike when he was hungover was just out of the question. Grace sighed and went into her room.

She got out of the bed and opened her wardrobe to get clothes, threw them on the bed and went into the bathroom.

When she came back to the bedroom he was still leaning against the headboard and she threw down the towel and started to get dressed. None of them said anything. She wasn't sure what to say or if he even remembered anything so she didn't want to be the first one to speak. She sat down in front of her mirror and did her make-up, hair and put in earrings.

He was still watching her when she turned around and they still hadn't said a single word. She walked over and sat down next to him.

"Get some sleep. I'll see you later." She leaned over and kissed his cheek but as she tried to get up he pulled her back down.

"I don't blackout when I drink."

"Ok." She gave him another kiss and tried to get up again but he didn't let go. "I need to get going, get some more sleep and we'll talk later."

"I meant it." She knew what he was referring to and smiled.

"Ok." She wasn't sure what to say. There was just no words to describe how that made her feel. She stroke his cheek and kissed his forehead and once again tried to get up but he still wouldn't let go. "I need to go, Happy."

"Ok. That's all you're going to say?"

"I'm not sure what to say. Except I love you too. And we'll talk later, ok?" He nodded. "And you're going to tell me about that tattoo."

That made him smile. "Ain't telling you shit."

"I guess I'll have to wait until the next time you stumble in piss drunk in the middle of the night."

"Sorry about that."

"Don't be. I prefer that rather than having you drunk with Crow Eaters around your neck." She gave him another kiss and finally managed to get up. "And you're going to tell me why you were going to yell at me."

"Like I said; ain't telling you shit." He laid back down again and she moved the tray from the bed.

-o0o-

When Happy woke up next time his head was slightly better. He got up and went out into the kitchen and found the coffee machine loaded and painkillers with more dehydration solution on the counter.

He picked up the phone and called Clay. "Need me today?"

"_Not yet. I'll call you if anything comes up. We might have a lead and I'm going to go and see Laroy. I'll bring Trig and Bobby for that."_

"Sure about that?"

"_Yeah, cure that hangover."_

He had coffee, more painkillers but ignored the rest. A shower later he was on his bike and headed towards the library.

She was standing in the reception with some guy and he watched her for a while. She was smiling but when she turned around and saw him, he got her real smile.

"Feeling better?" She said when she was in front of him.

"A little." He said and put an arm around her waist. She wrinkled her nose.

"You still have the worst hangover breath."

"Bitch." He kissed her anyway and she smiled.

"I talked to Tara today, Just briefly but she said we'd meet at the wake."

"Ok."

"And Clay called."

"Clay?"

"He wanted to talk to me. I'm not sure about what."

This was another reason he wanted her to be his Old Lady. If Clay wanted to talk to an Old Lady he asked her man. He didn't call her up and set a meet. His phone rang, and speak of the devil.

"I need to take this."

"I know." She smiled and gave him a kiss. "We'll talk later."

"What!"

"_I need you at the clubhouse."_ It was all Clay said and all he needed to say.

"Be there in ten." He hung up. "Babe!" He yelled and noticed several people turning around. He had forgotten that library silence rule.

She smiled and held up her hand to her ear like a phone and he nodded.

-o0o-

They were at the clubhouse.

"Hey, Prez. Can I ask you something?"

Clay raised his eyebrows. "What I want with Ava?"

"Yeah."

"Just about running. She's got experience at it. See if she can give us some hints." Happy nodded. Clay might have a point. "Is she coming to the wake?"

"Yeah. I don't want her to bring Grace. I think Mary was going to take her."

"Shouldn't have a kid on a wake."

Happy went out into the bar to wait. He wasn't sure what the hell they were waiting for but he assumed it was something and they'd let him know sooner or later.

Clay came out of the Chapel "Where is he?"

"PD let him into the house yesterday." Opie answered the question.

"Let's go get him."

Happy followed their lead. When they went into the house Tara only said one word. "Nursery."

He was on the floor, completely out of it and Happy couldn't blame him. Especially considering how drunk he had been just the day before for simply figuring out he loved someone. What if it had been Ava or Grace? He would have been knocked out on the floor as well.

They just needed to get Jax sober enough to get him to Laroy and hear the information he had. The hung around for a while waiting for Jax and all ended up in the kitchen, having coffee.

-o0o-

Ava was trying to keep her focus on her work but it was hard, she thought about pretty much everything but her work. Mostly about Kip and quite a lot about Gemma.

Her phone rang. "Hallo."

"_Hey, it's Tara. Could you... come by? I don't have anyone else to call."_

"Sure."

She got out and found James. "Listen, we're having some problems and a friend called.

"I've heard. It's ok. Take some personal days when you need them the next couple of days. I know you'll make sure that the important things are done."

"Thank you." She gave him a quick hug and got out to the car.

When she walked inot Jax's house she found Tara on the floor in the nursery.

"What happened in here?" Ava asked as she tried to avoid stepping on anything in the mess that was on the floor.

"I had a fit."

"Impressive." She sat down on the floor next to Tara and leaned agains the sofa. "What happened."

"Jax is blaming me, for Abel."

"Why?"

"That I didn't stop him. That I... did whatever I did."

"Did he say that?" It didn't sound very likely to Ava. Jax would be smarter than that.

"No."

"If you had tried to stop him would have had a dead Old Lady and a missing son. You know that."

"I don't know that. I might have been able to do something."

Ava put her arm around Tara's shoulders and hugged her. "No, you wouldn't have. Kip tried."

Tara leaned her head agains Ava and cried. A while later she sat up and dried her cheeks.

"I'm sorry to put this on you."

"It's ok."

"I don't have any real friends here and with Gemma gone..."

"Have you talked to her?"

"Yeah."

Ava nodded. "Say hi from me next time. That I'm thinking of her." She gave Tara another hug. "And I'm here for you. Let me know if you need to talk again. Ok?"

"Ok." Tara got up. "I need to get ready. Got a surgery and the feds are questioning me later today."

"Met them yesterday. With the lovely agent Stahl." Ava got up as well. "Want any help with this?" She pointed at the floor.

"Nah." Tara shrugged. "What did they ask?"

"About the Irish. Told them I didn't know anything, which is true. Stahl asked about Jonah as well. You saved my ass with that sick note. Thanks."

"No problem."

"I should get back to work as well. I'll try to take the personal days to when I really need them. Have a feeling I'ill in the coming weeks."

Tara gave her another hug. "Thanks."

"Call me if you need me." She took a final look at the mess. "This is very impressive. Very teenage rage."

Tara laughed and walked her to the door and Ava got back to work and started to sort books. That seemed like the only thing she could muster up enough focus to be able to do.

-o0o-

"What is a wake?" Grace asked as they walked out to the car.

"It's a way to pay respect to the dead person. Kind of."

"I'll miss him." Grace said as she sat down. "I liked him." Ava was going to miss him as well. He seemed like a nice kid. Slightly shy and very loveable.

"I know, Honey. I'm sorry."

"He died when he tried to save Abel?"

"Yes." They had tried to tell her as much of the truth this time as well. With everything going on and most of it was very public in the papers, it was best that way. "I'll pick you up after the wake. We'll talk more then if you want. Ok?"

"Ok." Grace was watching throught the window. "Will Happy come as well?"

"I think so, but it might be late. But I'm sure he'll be there in the morning if you want to talk to him instead."

She left Grace with Mary and then went to meet Happy outside the funeral home.

"How was she?" He asked.

"Not sure."

"She'll be fine." Happy gave her a kiss on her forehead and she hugged him tight. "I need to talk to the others. Lyla is over there." He pointed, gave her another kiss and left her. She walked up to Lyla.

"Hey."

"Oh, Hi." Lyla said with a shy smile. "Did you bring Grace?"

"No. I didn't think... I don't know. I didn't seem right."

"I left Piper with a babysitter as well. Mostly cause I'm scared that'll break apart." Lyla said with an uncertain smile. She looked over at Opie and some of the others. "They'll probably be busy."

"Come on." Ava said and hooked her arm into Lyla's. "We'll stick together and if we feel the need to break apart we'll just find some corner for it."

Lyla smiled at her. "Thank you. You've been... really nice to me."

Ava was surprised. "Why shouldn't I?"

"Gemma and Tara had some problems with my profession."

"Gemma and Tara probably just had had other opportunities in life that you." Ava said as they walked inside.

"Still, thank you." Lyla hugged her arm and they walked into the room with the coffin together.

There was a picture of him on it. In his military uniform in front of the flag. He looked so young. Lying on the coffin was his cut but it didn't have the empty back. The reaper was there. Ava carefully stroked the cut. She wondered if he ever finished 'Heart of Darkness'. For a second she realized that he still had the library book and she wouldn't get it back. Then she felt bad for even thinking about that. At least he got to read 'The Dice Man'.

"To life life assuming otherwise is insanity." She mumbled. A hand on her shoulder made her turn around to see Happy. He gave her a hug but didn't say anything.

She took Lyla's arm again and they walked outside.

"I'll wait for Ope here." She said and Ava nodded and walked outside.

Tara was standing there, looking completely lost so Ava put her arms around her and gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled and Tara hugged back.

"I panicked at work today. In the middle of the surgery." Tara was holding her so hard. "And Jax is pushing me away. I don't know what to do."

"Don't let go."

"I like that plan." Tara said and let go of her when Jax came walking and slipped into his arms. Ava saw Happy walking in front of them with the better part of the Charming club.

"Hey." She heard behind her and saw Big Al coming towards her. "Where's that charmer of a kid of yours."

"Babysitter." Ava smiled. "All good with yours?"

Before Al could answer she heard loud sounds and he grabbed her and pulled her down on the ground. Her first reaction was go get pissed. What the fuck was he doing, throwing himself on her. Then she heard the screams.

When the shooting stopped Al got up. "Shit!" He said and pulled her up. "You ok?"

Ava could only nod and Al turned around to look at the scene around them. It was as if everthing moved in slow motion but her brain still wasn't able to registrer anything. Someone was lying on the ground further down the street, some others on the grass not far from her.

Then there was the blond woman with the young boy in her arms, screaming and crying. A blond boy, he hadn't even hit his teens and blood was soaking his shirt. Her legs could hardly carry her and she knelt down on the grass, still holding the hands over her mouth to stop the scream from slipping out.

Happy was looking around, trying to find her and finally saw her next to Big Al, on her knees holding her hands in front of her mouth and with big eyes, staring at something. He followed her line of sight and saw a blond woman on the ground with a young boy in her arms, screaming.

Shit. He ran up to Ava and pulled her off the ground. "Babe, are you ok?" She didn't even seem to hear him. "Are you hit?"

She still didn't say anything and didn't even seem to notice that he was tehere so he grabbed her shoulders to get her attention. "Ava!"

She finally looked at him and took the hand from her mouth. "Yes. I'm... fine. Al..." She pointed at Big Al.

"I pulled her down." He said and Happy nodded at him. He owed him one.

"Thanks, man."

"Don't mention it." Al said before he walked towards the other bodies on the ground.

Ava was staring at the woman again. He heard her mumble the same thing she did in front of Half-sack coffin. "To live life assuming otherwise is insanity."

"Babe. Look at me!" She did. "What did you say?" He couldn't have cared less but he needed her to pull it together. She was all over the place.

"It's a quote." Of course it was. "Death, destruction, despair may strike. To live life assuming otherwise is insanity. It's from 'The Dice Man'. The book Kip read. I gave him 'Heart of darkness' as well but I don't know if he finished it and I thought of it when I was by his coffin. If he finished it and then I remembered that quote from the other book and..." She was just rambling so he pulled her in for a hug. "What if Grace had been here?"

"She wasn't." He held her closer and turned around and saw Jax being pulled away from one of the shooters by Bobby and Opie. It was nice to see him back in action in the middle of all the other shit.

An hour later they were still outside the funeral home. Ava was sitting on the edge of the grass next to Lyla and Tara, smoking like a chimney. He was next to Clay and the others. They weren't talking much, there wasn't much to say yet.

"Should get them home." He said and nodded to the girls.

"Yeah. Take your girl."

"I'll be in the clubhouse in twenty minutes."

Clay nodded. "No need. Jax's in custody and we all need to land. I'll see you in the morning." He said and gave him a hug. "Keep the phone with you."

"You know it."

He called Mary and briefly explained what had happened.

"_Oh dear! Maybe Grace should spend the night here. I can take her to you tomorrow morning."_

"You ok with that?"

"_Of course. Why don't you talk to her?"_

So he did, even in the middle of all shit her voice made him smile. _"Will you pick me up in the morning?"_

"Mary'll bring you, but I'll take you to school."

"_Is mom ok?"_

He looked at Ava. "Something happened. She's upset. She'll be fine."

"_Promise?"_

"Yes. Go to sleep and be nice to Mary."

"_I'm always nice."_ Grace laughed, once again, sounding just like her mom. _"Tell mom I love her."_

"I will, Sugar."

"_And I love you."_

"I'm a lucky guy. Love you too." And he hung up.

He walked up to Ava and pulled her to the side. "Talked to Grace. She loves you."

"That's a good thing."

"I'll take you home." He put his arm around her and pulled her towards her car. She followed him and got inside on the passenger seat.

Ava took his hand a while later. "What was that about?" She meant the shooting.

"I don't know, babe. We'll find out." They would, no matter how many bodies he would have to drop along the way.

"Did you leave your bike at the funeral home?"

"Don't worry about it."

"You didn't have to take me home."

"Yes, I did." She was still so set on taking care of herself. As for her refusing his money he was kind of glad about it. The cost for his mom was horrendous and he needed to figure something out because he wanted to pay for rent and food at Ava's place. He practically lived there now but so far she refused to take any money from him.

He parked her car and when she stepped out he put his arm around her waist and took her inside.

"I want a bath." She said and went into the bathroom. He followed her and as the tub was filling up they took of their clothes and they went inside. She was leaning against him with her head against his shoulder and he had to admit, it was pretty fucking relaxing. "I can't stop thinking about that boy."

"I know." He kissed her neck. She turned her head towards him and he noticed that her eyes were filling up again. He gently dried her cheeks and gave her a kiss. There wasn't really much to say. He wasn't surprised even if she usually never cried this was precicly the situation when he whould have expected her to.

"Can I ask you to... do something for me?"

"What?"

"Jax is trying to push Tara away and I understand why. But could you please not do the same?"

He could understand why as well. Waiting outside the funeral home, with Ava's comment that Grace could have been there ringing in his head had made him think the same thing. But he wasn't Jax.

"Too selfish for that. Not letting you go."

"Good."

"This won't make you run?" That seemed more likely. She was quiet for some time.

"It should, shouldn't it?"

"Probably."

"It's just..." She trailed off.

"What?"

"I don't know. But I'm not running."

"Good." He hugged her. "Like I said; I'm not letting you go."

When the water turned cooler they got up and they went to bed. He held her when she fell asleep and then he got up again. He couldn't sleep and went out on the balcony with a beer and smokes. When the shock over what happened started to loose it's grip he was getting fucking furious.

Who had the fucking nerve to do that to them? I had to be the mayans but he hadn't recognized the fuck that fell out of the van. Not that it had been easy once Jax was done with him but Happy was still pretty sure it was a new face. With Abel gone and this attack they were neck deep in shit. He had expected that the attack on Zoebelle and settling that score would be the end of this shitstorm. Instead it had only become worse. They needed to finnish this before going inside and they needed to be really fucking smart about it.

He wondered how Jax really was doing because he was usually the one with the brains. The one with the smoothest ideas on how to sort things out and if he wasn't in the game they would have trouble. He respected Clay, but he was from the old branch, the bloody one, not afraid to start wars. Happy didn't mind wars, he just didn't think it was the best way to fix things.

"Can's sleep?" He hadn't even noticed her opening the balcony door.

"No. You go back to bed. I'll be there in a while." He said and emptied the beer. She was in the door wearing only on of his t-shirts.

"Ok." She said with a smile, pulled of the t-shirt and walked inside. Fucking hell! Anyone could have seen her. He got up and caught up with her, lifting her up form behind.

"Did you just flash my tits to the entire fucking neighborhood?"

"It's the middle of the night, no-one's out." She laughed. "And I was flashing them to you, I wanted you to come inside with me."

"Naughty bitch." He said before throwing her into the bed, pulling of his pants and following her.

"Just wanted you to get relaxed." She said and got up on him, kissing his neck and nibbling his collarbone.

"You know how to do that." He said while pushing her further down.

"I sure do." She said and looked at him.

This must be one of the perks with an Old Lady he thought to himself. Someone who really gave a shit about you general mood and who did their best to keep you in a good mood.


	19. It said so on your chest

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters._

_Wow! I just passed 200 reviews and I'm just stunned. Thank you!_

_There has also been some reviewers who have disabled their PM, you know who you are and I just wanted you to know that I LOVED you're reviews, on all my stories, they were amazing._

_At the risk of being a nag: Thank you for reviews, favs and alerts._

_Also, sorry for it taking longer that usual to get this up (not that it was long but even so) bad news is that it might be slightly longer between the uploads, good news is that the reason is because I started writing on the sequel while I'm finishing this one. It will be about Grace when she's older._

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**Chapter 19: It said so on your chest**

When Ava woke up in the morning Happy was still sleeping. That was very uncommon. Usually she woke up when he tried to untangle himself from her, or by his hands roaming all over her. She gave him a kiss on his cheek. He mumbled something and she got up. Or rather tried. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Where are you taking that ass?"

"To the bathroom for a shower."

He leaned over the edge of the bed and checked his phone, still holding on to her. "It's six, Ava. Go back to sleep."

"I need to get up in an hour anyway and I need to get Grace and get her ready for school."

"Mary'll take her here." He mumbled into her neck still holding her arm. "Stay in bed with me."

"Who are you and what have you done to Happy?" She laughed. "You usually can't get out of bed fast enough in the mornings."

"Changed my mind about that. Got a nice ass in bed, all mine." He said and put his arm around her. "Go back to sleep."

She settled down and listened to his breaths and once she heard he was a sleep again she snuck out of bed and went to the bathroom. When she was in the shower the curtain was pulled to the side and Happy stepped in.

"Sneaky bitch." He said and gave her a kiss.

"I wasn't tired."

"You need to follow orders." He said and glared at her with the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Not your Old Lady yet."

"No reason to not start practicing." He took the soap from her and started to wash himself. When he was done he rinsed and stepped outside.

Ava picked up the razor and started to shave her legs. "You're going to have pretty hectic day, aren't you?"

"Probably, why?"

"If you see _any_ possibility to pick up Grace, even if its just to get her to the library, please give me a call."

"I'm sure someone can. I'll call you." He said. "Have you seen my razor?"

Ava froze up and looked at the razor she held against her leg. "Eehrrmm."

"Shit! You're using it, aren't you?" He tore the curtains to the side and she was still resting the foot on the edge of the bathtub with the razor still against her leg. "Ava! Fucking hell, that's why it's always dull!"

She looked up at him, trying to ignore what he looked like with only a towel around his hips. "Maybe?"

"Don't give me that sweet, innocent girl look." He laughed and took the razor from her.

"Nooo! I need to finish shaving my legs." She reached for it and Happy caught her and pulled her out of the bathtub. She had only finished shaving one of her legs and had just begun on the second when he had interrupted her.

"Not with my razor." He held her with one hand and had the razor in the other.

"Please, yours are much better."

"It'll cost you." He gave her a crooked smile. "A kiss."

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him, while doing it she tried to sneak her hand along his arm to get the razor. "Can I have it?" She finally asked.

"Yes." He smiled and handed it to her before lifting her back into the bathtub. "Put a fresh blade in it when you're done. And keep that one and use only that and always put mine back into it when you're done."

"Ok." She smiled and gave him another kiss. "Thank you."

When she came to the kitchen he had made coffee and was talking to Grace.

"Hey, honey. When did you come?"

"Just now. Happy made me toast." She help up a toast with a huge smile to show it to Ava.

"I can see that." She glared at Happy before giving Grace a kiss.

"What happened yesterday?" Grace asked. She sat down next to Grace and took a deep breath.

"Someone fired at the people outside Kip's wake."

"Was someone hurt?" She looked at Ava with big eyes.

"Yes."

Grace was silent for a while. "Anyone I know."

"Chucky, but he'll be fine. And Hale and a boy..."

"They died." Grace said and was silent for a long time.

"Honey." Ava picked her up. "Talk to me." Grace shook her head and put her arms around Ava's neck.

"Why?" She finally said. But she wasn't looking at Ava. She was looking at Happy.

"We don't know, Sugar." Happy answered and held out his arms to her. She moved over to him. "We'll find out." She looked at him and then nodded.

"You're going to see Laura today." It was her regular appointment but Ava was very glad that it was today.

Grace nodded again and then jumped down on the floor and ran to the bathroom.

"You're not gonna like this, but maybe you should let her skip school today. And you should skip work."

Ava thought it over and sat down in his knee. "I think you're right." She gave him a kiss. "I'll give you a lift to your to your bike."

He pulled her down for another kiss. "Good."

"Your stubble is really scratchy." She said while getting up and he smacked her behind.

"Some bitch had my razor."

"You really need to have a serious talk to your bitch."

"I know. Working on it."

She picked up the dishes and went to the sink. "Work harder, can't let her think she's can get away with shit like that." She soaked the dish and suddenly felt him pressing against her back, kissing her neck.

"Kind of into her you know." He mumbled against her neck and Ava laughed.

"Into her? What are you, fourteen?" She tried to imitate his voice and he laughed at her.

"According to rumors she's kind of into me as well."

She turned around and circled his waist. "Wanna come with us on a picnic, at least until Clay needs you?"

He rubbed his chin against her cheek. "Sure."

"Are we going?" Grace said from the hallway.

"You're ditching school today." Happy said and let go of Ava. "Spending a day with your mom instead."

"Why?" She looked at Happy and then Ava.

Ava answered. "I think you need it, just for today."

"Ok." She put down her bag. "What are we doing then."

"Though we should start with a picnic and then we'll do what we fell like. Tomorrows saturday and this way you'll get a couple of days to think about stuff without."

Grace nodded. "Can we ditch Laura?"

"No, not today. But besides that we can do pretty much anything." Ava went into the hallway and put her shoes on. "Pick a book, anyone you like and we'll bring blankets and buy something on our way."

-o0o-

Happy turned over and watched Ava and Grace, lying in the grass next to him. His beautiful girls. Ava was reading to Grace, some book about tiny people living under the floorboards. It was weird but Grace seemed to love it.

He's phone rang and he flipped it open.

"What!"

"_We paid a visit to our friend at the hospital."_ It was Clay and apparently they'd managed to get something out of the shooter who was in hospital. "G_onna need you in a while."_

"Sure."

"_Meet me at the clubhouse. And tell Ava I wanna meet her later today."_

"I'll let her know. Be there soon." He hung up the phone and looked at Ava and Grace. "I'm gonna have to leave. Clay wanted me."

"Ok." Ava said and turned towards him. "We'll miss you." She smiled and he pulled her closer.

"How much?"

"Very much." He gave her a kiss and got up.

"Clay wanted to see you as well. So swing by when you've been at Laura's." He picked up Grace. "You and I are going for a ride tomorrow. Ok?"

"Yes!" She smiled. He wanted to talk to her, find out how she was really doing.

-o0o-

Ava was in the waiting room outside Laura's office, reading her book, when the door opened and Grace skipped outside.

"Grace, I'll just have a word with your mom if that's ok."

"Ok. I'll wait here."

Ava got worried and stood up. "I'll be in there." She pointed towards the door.

"I _know_, mom." Grace smiled.

They got inside and Ava sat down. "Is everything ok?"

"Yes. That's the thing actually. Everything is very much ok with Grace." Laura sat down in front of her and crossed her legs.

Ava tried to figure that out. "There's been a lot going on. There was a shooting yesterday and earlier one of the members in the club was killed."

"I heard. I'm sorry about that. And I've talked to Grace about it. It troubles her, but not more than it would trouble any other child."

"What are you saying?" Ava couldn't figure out why they were having this conversation.

"One of the reasons I felt that Grace needed to continue to come here was that she found it hard to talk to you about the things that worried her."

"I know that." Out of concern for Ava, because she didn't want to worry her, Grace had avoided to talk to her. She bottled it up and Laura had been her vent. Someone outside that she could talk to, who she felt was capable of handling her worries.

"She's talked very much about Happy and I know who he is." Laura said and she gave her a slight smile again, Ava could see why. He didn't seem like the kid-loving kind. "He's very good to her, he listens, she compares him to Clark."

"She does?"

"Yes, apparently he doesn't talk to her like she's a kid. And they talk a lot. According to Grace she tells him everything."

"Oh." She was trying to figure out if that was good or bad. And what Grace meant with 'everything'.

"Basically; she's found another vent. And she trusts him more than she trusts me."

"But he's not... I mean, you're a professional."

"I could be the best child psychologist in the world and it wouldn't make any difference whatsoever if she doesn't trust me and talk to me. And she doesn't."

"She doesn't?"

"She talks, but not about what worries her. She does that to other people, my guess would be to Happy. And I think she's talking to you as well now, isn't she?"

"Yes." That wast true. She had been talking more to Ava as well.

"Probably because she feels that you're feeling better, stronger. At least that's how she explains it." Laura changed position in her chair. "I'd still like to meet her now and then. Maybe once a month for a while. Just to make sure that she doesn't need to talk."

"Ok." Ava didn't feel as confident as Laura about this. But as she herself had just pointed out; Laura was the professional.

"Also, since I know he's going to jail, she might feel another need for this once he's gone."

"She told you that? How does she feel about that?"

"Slightly worried, but she's also very sure that when he's out he'll come back to you."

That made Ava smile. At least someone was sure about that. Not that she was worried but it was nice to hear that Grace felt ok about it as well.

"I'm just... he's... well... he's a biker."

"She knows, she understands a lot more than you think. And she's not worried about it, so don't you start to worry about it."

"She always understands a lot more than I think."

"Most kids do." Laura smiled. "They're not stupid just cause they're young. And people have a tendency to not notice that they are around and talk like they're in private. But your kid is extremely perceptional, it has been her way of surviving. To know who to trust."

"So I don't have to worry about her?"

"No. And like I said; I'd like her to keep coming here, just for chats. I explained that to her, that it wouldn't be like before. We'll just meet, talk in general and if she feels the need to talk properly, she'll tell me or I'll notice."

"Sounds goo." Ava smiled and got up. She gave Laura a hug. "Thank you, for everything."

"You're most welcome. She's a great kid."

"I know. I'm lucky."

"Well, you did have quite a lot to do with it. But you're also lucky." Laura agreed.

They went outside and Laura gave Grace a hug. "I'll see you next month then?" Grace asked.

"Yes. Just a chat between friends and you'll let me know if you need to talk like before."

"Yes. Thank you Laura."

"Thank you." Laura said and walked inside the office again.

Ava picked up Grace and gave her a hug as well. "So you're ok with this?"

"Yes."

"And you'll let me know if you change your mind?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm ok with this." She gave her a kiss. "Let's get to the clubhouse."

-o0o-

When Happy and the others pulled in on the lot after the meet with Grim Bastards he noticed Grace and Ava.

"Hey." She smiled and he gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Hi Ava. Got a minute?" Clay asked and she nodded.

Grace ran up to him and he picked her up. They watched Ava and Clay walking into the clubhouse.

"I'm not going to see Laura as often anymore." Grace smiled.

"Who's Laura?" Bobby asked.

"She's a woman I've been talking to sometimes. You know, when I need to talk."

"A shrink?" Chibs asked?

Grace shrugged and Happy answered for her. "Yeah, child psychologist."

"Though Ava did things of the books." Bobby said.

"She did."

"Oh..." Bobby looked towards the clubhouse. "She must know shitloads of things that are done off the books."

"Yeah. That's why Clay wants to talk to her."

"Come on, Sunshine. There's some goodies for you in the clubhouse." Bobby said and Grace jumped into his arms. "See you got that SOA t-shirt today."

"Yes! I need more of them. Mommy doesn't do the laundry very often."

"Really? She lazy?"

"No, I hate going to the laundromat. It's so boring." Grace said and put her arms around Bobby's neck. "What did you bake?"

"Cookies."

"Mom says I get sugar rushes from those."

"That's why I use the good shit, no refined sugar." That was the last thing Happy heard before they walked inside.

"Would be great if we had half as good contact with our own fucking kids." Chibs said and lit a smoke.

"Ain't got any kids of my own." Happy said.

"So..."

"If you ask me when I'm gonna put a crow on her mom I'll fucking punch you."

"Ok." Chibs smiled and started to walk to the clubhouse and Happy followed him.

When he came inside Grace was having cookies and milk and Bobby was holding up SOA t-shirts.

"What about this one?"

"Nah." Grace shook her head.

"That's SOA blue, darlin'. It's nice." Chibs said and sat down next to her.

"Nah." still shaking her head. "Don't you have them in pink?"

Happy laughed and Chibs and Bobby were staring at her. Just then Ava and Clay came out.

"What?" Clay asked.

"Sugar wants a SOA t-shirt in pink." Happy explained.

"Don't let Gemma hear that." Clay sat down next to Grace and stroke her head.

"She'd do it?" Grace said with a big smile. Happy was pretty sure that Gemma would, if she ever came back that is.

"You already have a SOA t-shirt." Ava said when she sat down at the table.

"Yes, but you only let me have it one day and you only wash once a week."

"You hate it when I do the laundry." She said and picked up a cookie. "Oh my God, these are great. You did these?" She asked Bobby.

"Yeah. I'll give you the receipt."

Ava looked at Grace who finally had accepted that there were no pink t-shirts for her and picked another one. A white on with blue text spelling Reaper crew. Great, her daughter had a t-shirt that said 'Reaper crew'. And did they even allow those on people who weren't patched in? They walked outside and Clay give her a hug.

"Thanks. I'm sure it'll be of some use."

"I hope so. Tell her to call me if she can."

"I'll do that." He gave Grace a pat on her her head. "You take care of your mom, kiddo."

"I will." She was holding the t-shirt and a bag of cookies tight.

Ava turned to Happy. "Got a sec?" He asked and started to walk to the side of the lot. "She's not going to see Laura?"

"No. Apparently she doesn't talk to Laura anymore. According to Laura she doesn't need it because she talks to you instead. And she trusts you more than her."

He looked baffled. "I'm not a psychologist."

"That's what I said. She said it didn't matter, that it was mostly that Grace needed to vent."

Happy gave her a hug. "Ok."

"She'll still see her once a month." She gave him a kiss. "Listen, you're in the middle of stuff now so let's just talk about this when you come home. Ok?"

"Ok?"

"And don't worry. You don't have to do anything you're not already doing."

"Ok." He smiled.

"Hey, Hap. We need to get going." Clay yelled.

She picked up Grace and she waved at them when they drove off.

"A pink SOA t-shirt?" She said when they walked to the car.

"Just wanna see if they'll do it." Grace laughed. "And it would look awesome!"

"Sure would. I wouldn't hold my breath though."

"Nah. Just thought they should try thinking out of the box."

"Out of the box?" Where the hell did she learn stuff like this?

"Peter said it yesterday when we were trying to build a bridge made of straws."

"Ok." They got into the car. "Anything you wanna do today?"

"Can we go and see a movie?"

"Yes. Let's do that." A movie sounded great.

-o0o-

Ava was sleeping when he came home. He brushed his teeth, took a look at Grace and then went into the bedroom.

"Hey." She mumbled and put her arms around him.

"Hey." He was tired as hell.

"Tough day?" She put her arm around his waist and kissed his chest in that way she so often did.

"Yeah." That was putting it mildly.

"Wanna talk about it?"

He turned towards her. "Old Lady shit. Wanna change your mind about that ink?"

"So unless I'm an Old Lady you can't talk to me?"

"Something like that."

"You do know that I figure out quite a lot by myself."

"Sugar must have had it from someone. So I'm not surprised."

"She told me how she figured it out. That you killed... Jonah." He heard that slight hesitation.

"How?"

"I wasn't scared, we didn't move and it said so on your chest. That's a direct quote." Smart bitches, both of them.

"Said so on my chest?"

"That you kill for your family. And Gemma called me family."

"Smart girl." He remembered her reading it but she had never asked, none of them had. "So, being and Old Lady means I can tell you everything." He looked back at Ava.

"I know." He knew that. Her 'dislike'-face

"You don't want that?"

"I figure out things anyway. And the things I figure out scares me sometimes. I just think..."

"That if you knew more it would freak you out?"

"Something like that."

"I don't think it would." She was a tough girl, sometimes knowing less can be more frighting. The mind adds the missing pieces and if you had an imagination and experiences like the ones Ava had, you could come up with some nasty shit. Admittedly, he did do some nasty shit but he wouldn't tell her those. Just what she needed to know and enough for her to think she knew the most of it.

She took a deep breath. "Ok."

"Ok?" He smiled at her.

"Tell me about today."

"We meet with Grim Bastards, a black mc-club from Lodi, the others had figured out that the guy who fell out of the van was from another mc-club from Lodi, Caleveras. Grim Basterds found out where the president of the Caleveras lived so we went to him. Opie lured him into opening the door, when he saw us he ran and I followed him inside and took him down. His Old Lady was in there and pulled a gun at Chibs and Bobby. Jax took her out by breaking her nose. Then he beat up the president who still wouldn't tell us what we needed to know. So we dug a hole in the ground, filled it up with dirt to his neck and drove the bikes towards him to make him tell us what we wanted to know. Then we dug him up again."

When he finished talking he looked at her. He couldn't read her face. She moved and laid on top of him. "You didn't kill him?"

"No. We decided not to."

"If they asked you, would you have killed him?"

"Yes."

He was holding his breath, she hadn't moved and finally she just gave him a kiss.

"So, where would you put it?"

He took a deep breath. He hadn't expected that from her, but he had thought about where to put the tattoo. "I know you don't want it where someone else can see it. So somewhere private."

"I thought the point was for others to see it, to stay away."

"They'll know you're my Old Lady anyway. And that's not the only reason why you get it."

"Then why?"

"It shows that you're mine. And if you're mine, you and Grace are my responsibility. I have to take care of you." She started to talk and he interrupted. "I know you don't want anyone to take care of you. But that is what it means. It's a mark for me as much as it is for you. And I'm gonna take care of you and Grace not matter what you think about it."

"Ok." She leaned down and kissed him. "Somewhere that's just for you and me, that I don't show anyone else."

"Yes."

"Like my back?"

"No. It's possible to tattoo on scars but they need to be completely healed, preferably for years. But even if yours were completely healed it would still be too much, it wouldn't look good." He stroked her back when he told her.

"So where?" She smiled.

"You'd do it?" He had no idea where this came from. It's not as if she had refused earlier. But she had avoided to talk about it. On the other hand he had started to understand how she worked. That she avoided something wasn't because she didn't want to think about it. It was the opposite. She didn't talk about it to be able to think about it on her own, then she talked about it. He liked that about her.

"I don't know. But I wanna know where you'd put it."

He flipped her around, kissed his way down her body until he was on her left thigh. He kissed her on the outside, quite high, just underneath the hem of her boyshorts. "There."

"Just for your eyes."

"Exactly." He smiled, she got it. He knew she would. "You're just for me."

Ava looked at Happy. He had told her what he had done that day and she did wonder what he had done those other days when he came home late and was extremely tired. More than once it was probably something similar. It didn't bother her. It probably should but he had never been violet towards her, the only thing he had done was hold her still when she tried to run away to avoid him. The thought about what he had actually done to Jonah flashed through her head but she pushed it back.

"Just for you."

"I might have to kill all the other guys you've fucked. Just to make sure I'm the only living guy on the planet who's had you." He was teasing her now. Probably trying to get away from the seriousness of the situation. "Since you're just for me."

"You already did."

He stared at her for a few seconds. "You serious?"

"I was seventeen when I met him."

"Yeah?"

"That's not that uncommon. To be a virgin when you're seventeen. Not everyone gave blowjobs in the library at high school. Some of us actually read the books in there."

"Were you planing on becoming a nun?"

"Shut up!" She hit him in the chest. "It's not that uncommon!"

"Sure!"

"Hey, you should be glad."

He just smiled. "So you'll let me do it?"

Suddenly she thought of something that would probably put the discussion on halt for a while. Give her some time to get used to the idea of have a bird on her thigh. "Know what? If you can tell me you love me without being drunk as..." He didn't even let her finish the sentence

"I love you."

She choked and wasn't really able to take in the fact that he just said it, while looking her straight into the eyes and smiling. "I wasn't really prepared for that." Not at all, she had thought that it was a very safe way to avoid the 'Old Lady'-discussion for now.

He laughed. "I know." He kissed her. "So, I said it, now you'll let me do it?"

"Will you be there for Grace, not matter what?"

"You know I will. I might kill her boyfriends though."

"I might like it when you do." He laughed and laid down next to her agian.

Happy took another look at her. It had taken her being somewhat of a fucking angel despite him being drunk and mad at her to get him to say it the first time. Her smile while taking of his clothes and laughing when he told her about the Crow Eater, her calm when just putting him to bed and lying down next to him, taking of her t-shirt and letting him hold her, all of that had pushed him over the edge. She was always so calm, even when she was angry she was still calm and it wasn't just that she couldn't yell. Every word out of that womans mouth was always calculated and calm. He loved that, she didn't blow up or freaked out. Only time he ever saw her rattled was when she was horny and he held off, but he liked that. He wanted her to want him that bad.

He kissed her again. Saying it this time had been something different, he knew that she thought it would stop him for a while. He would probably never be then kind of guy who told her often and in normal cases she wouldn't ask him to say it. It had been surprisingly easy. And he meant it this time as well.

He kept kissing her and finally ripping of her panties and entering her.

She kissed him the entire time. Every time he tried to stop she pulled his head back and fused her mouth to his. Her legs were tangled with his and her feet on the back of his knees and he couldn't stop moving his hands all over her body.

He had never had sex like this. This wasn't fucking, it was hardly even sex. It was the L-thing.

When she came he watched her and he came right after. When he was resting on her, his head besides hers he kissed her earlobe. "Don't get used to this." He mumbled with a smile. And of course she knew what he meant.

"You can fuck me really hard next time." She laughed.

"I will." He laid down next to her again.

"I know you don't deal with drugs or women and that's pretty much all I need to know. I'm guessing guns though."

"Guessing?"

"Irish, IRA, they're an army and they need money. It's not news that they're running guns. I'm not stupid Happy."

"I know you're not." She sure as hell wasn't.

"Ok." She said after a few minutes of silence.

"Ok, what?"

"You can do it."

"I just told you everything, if you hadn't agreed I would have been forced to kill you." He said and kissed her.

"You could never kill me, you love me." She smiled.

Ava kept looking at him. It hadn't been as bad as she had imagined. It was nothing she wasn't ok with even if it wasn't anything she was happy with.

"I'll do it tomorrow."

"In a hurry?"

"Don't want you to change your mind." He smiled. "I'll take Grace for a ride in the morning."

"Ok." She curled up next to him. "Let me know what she says."

"No. But I'll let you know how she's doing."

"Guess that'll have to do."


	20. I used to be such a nice girl

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of it's characters._

_As always, thank you for your amazing support and feedback. I love it all, favs, alerts and most of all, the awesome reviews!_

* * *

**Chapter 20: I used to be such a nice girl**

They were at a café instead of their usual bench, having breakfast. Grace was having pancakes and Happy had a coffee. She seemed to be in a good mood then he noticed the sudden change.

"What happened to that boy?" She asked while shoving more pancakes into her mouth.

"He was shot."

She put down the fork and looked at him. "And then he died."

"Yes." He leaned forward over the table to take a closer look at her. She was looking down on her plate.

"His mom must be so sad."

"Want me to come over to your side?"

She was still looking down on the table but nodded. So he moved over and she climbed up into his lap and buried her face into his neck. "Did you save mom?"

"No, actually Big Al did."

"I liked him." She looked at him again. "He had two sons who liked bikes. He showed me pictures. He had them in his cut."

"The pictures?"

She nodded. "Does your mom have pictures of you?"

"Sure." She sat down at the table again and started poking in her pancakes with the fork but she wasn't eating.

"Whats on you mind, Sugar?"

"It's strange."

"What is?"

"Death."

He almost laughed but managed to contain himself. He wasn't laughing at her, more at how kids had a very easy and yet so complicated way of explaining shit like that.

"It is. Strange to think about."

"I mean... my teacher said that death was like sleeping, but really hard. But I mean; when you sleep you dream but if you're dead I don't think so your brain is working. So that seems boring." She was still stirring around in the pancakes. "And Kathy Mitchell said that when you die you go to heaven if you've been good, and everything is perfect there. And if you've been bad you go to hell. But what if you've been both? No-one is good all the time but everyone is it sometimes.." Happy wondered who Kathy Mitchell was, probably one of the other kids in school. She turned and looked at him. "What do you think?"

"I don't know what I think, Sweetie." He tried to figure out what he thought. "I think death is hard to understand in a lot of ways. It's very... final."

"What do you mean?" He was not dealing with this the right way.

"It scares people because it means we won't see someone again. And it's also scary that we don't know what happens when we die."

"Can we go and see that boys grave, and put flowers on it?"

"That's a nice thing to do." This kid just had the biggest heart. He really hoped he hadn't fucked up the death-talk.

She started eating again and took a sip of her juice, she had three straws in it.

"Do you really need three straws?"

"No. But I like it." She smiled "Me and Peter built a bridge of straws and glue, it was really strong." Peter again, Happy thought to himself. "Why did mom have to work today? She doesn't work saturdays anymore."

"Since she wasn't at work yesterday she was going to work for a while today." He finished his coffee and leaned back.

"Don't you have to be with the others today?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"They didn't need me today. I'm not a member of this club you know, so they just call me when they need me."

"Oh."

"But I've got plans for us."

"What?" She smiled and he laughed. "Tell me!"

"We're going to put a bitch seat on my bike. So I can take your mom for a ride." Her smile got even bigger. "Then we'll pick up your mom and I'm going to make a tattoo on her." He hadn't thought her smile could get any bigger and finally she clapped her hand.

"Wow! She agreed?"

"Yup."

"Wow. Come on. Lets go." She said and started climbing over him, he caught her and put her back in front of her plate.

"Hey. Finish your breakfast. We're not in a hurry."

They spent the morning in the garage, talking and fixing with his bike. Her small hands did come in handy now and then and she loved to help and asked him about every fucking part of the bike.

"Can bikes die?" She suddenly said and he laughed.

"They can stop working."

"Isn't that kind of what happens with the body when you die?"

"Kind of, but most people think that there's more to a person than just a body. That we have a soul."

"Do you think so?"

He sighed. Did he think so? Shit, this was stuff he hadn't thought about for years. He preferred to not think about it considering that he killed people. He had no idea what the fuck he thought about this. He looked at her again.

"Yes." That was probably the right thing to say to a kid. She nodded and then she started asking questions about bikes again. He was much more comfortable with those.

By noon they had lunch and then they went to pick up Ava.

"Ready?" He smiled when she came outside.

She took a deep breath. "Yes. Can't be the worst pain I've had to endure?" She said it like a question and he laughed.

"No." He looked down at Grace. "Wanna go with your mom or me?"

She rolled her eyes and put her helmet on. Ava laughed. "You gotta ask?"

"Hey, trying to be a gentleman here."

He gave her the address and told her to meet him there. It was a tattoo-parlor owned by a guy who was a friend of the club. Happy used to work there now and then and had some of his equipment there.

Ava was nervous. She had no idea what to expect, how much it would hurt or even how long it would take. When she arrived she saw Happy, opening the door for Grace who ran inside. When he saw her car he waited for her.

She went inside and came in time to see Grace basically attacking a skinny, tattooed guy with with comments.

"Wow! You have tattoos in you face." Grace climbed up on the chair next to him. "I like it! And on your neck!"

"Ehhh, hi?" The guys said and then turned around and saw Happy. "Hi, is she with you?"

"Yeah." Happy nodded.

"Look Happy, he's got tattoos everywhere!"

"Honey, it's not polite to stare." Ava said in an attempt to stop Grace from studying the poor man.

"Why would he do that if he doesn't want people to look?" Grace said and was still looking at him. "They're very nice." She said with a smile and the guy finally smiled back.

"I like her." He pointed at Grace and smiled at Happy.

"Join the club." Happy said and took his hand and gave him one of the very manly hugs these guys seemed to share quite often. "All good?"

"Yeah. So this is your Old Lady?" He said and extended his hand to Ava who took it.

"Ava." She said with a smiley.

"I'm Freddy. And you are?" He said and turned his hand to Grace.

"Grace." She took his hand. "Ohhhhhh, and on his hands! This is so great!"

"She likes tattoos." Ava explained. "And bikes."

"And princesses." Grace added.

"That's an interesting mix." Freddy nodded towards Grace.

"Come on." Happy said to Ava led her to a chair that looked kind of like a recliner. Grace was still talking to Freddy. "Take of your jeans and sit down." He pointed at the chair and Ava did as he asked.

She watched him getting ready. It was obvious that he had done this quite a few times. He had a stainless steel table that he covered in plastic. Some other plastic that he put on the chord for the tattoo machine. When he put the machine down on the table she took a closer look at it.

There were pictures on the coils. "It's beautiful."

He looked at her and smiled but didn't say anything. He poured ink into a small plastic cup and put something that looked like vaseline in a huge pile on the plastic. Everything was wrapped in plastic, even the spray bottle.

He dry shaved her upper thigh and then poured something that smelled like disinfectant on a napkin and rubbed it on her. It was disinfectant and it burned like hell. "Seriously? Did you have to dry shave me before doing that?"

"Shut up." He smiled. "It's going to be the least painful part of this."

"Now that I do this, will you try reading a book?"

"No." He said and gave her a kiss. He took something that looked like normal tracing paper with the outline of the bird and put it on the thigh and sprayed water on it.

She took a deep breath. "Will you stick to me?"

He looked up at her, grabbed her chin, but not hard, and gave her another kiss. Still looking into her eyes he smiled. "Yes."

"You would say anything to make sure I did this, wouldn't you?"

"I didn't say I'd read a book." He was fiddling with the paper on her thigh. That was a very Happy way of telling her that he meant it. He would stick to her.

She turned her head and looked at Grace who had pulled off her t-shirt and Freddy was drawing on her.

"How does she do that?" Ava said to Happy.

He took a quick look before turning his attention to her thigh again. "She drills those blue eyes into yours and ask. All she has to do."

"You do realize that she's going to be lethal when she's a teenager?"

"I do. But show me the pimpled teenage guy who would dare to piss of an entire MC-club."

"If they're horny enough."

Happy gave her a look and his eyes were pitch black. "Maybe we could talk about something else while I'm doing this." He turned to Grace. "I'm about to start, Sugar."

"Can we sit over there?" She asked Freddy who agreed and pushed her chair over next to Ava's.

Happy was adjusting the rubber-band that was around the coils and the needle on the machine after putting on black rubber gloves. Then he looked up at her with a crocked smile and raised eyebrows.

"Ready?"

She nodded. He squeezed her leg tight between his arm and body, stretched her skin between her index finger and thumb and then the machine started. It sounded like a dentist drill, she hated that sound.

Then he put the needle to her skin. It felt like someone was scratching her with something electric. It didn't hurt bad, but it felt... uncomfortable and slightly sickening.

Grace was staring at her. "Does it hurt?"

"Not too bad."

"It doesn't hurt that much on the thigh." Freddy said to Grace while still drawing on her. "And it doesn't hurt much to begin with, the longer you do it the more it hurt."

"Why?" Grace asked.

"You get tired and less resistant." He explained while shifting pens.

About two hours later Ava started to realize that Freddy was right. It wasn't just that she was getting tired, it was that Happy kept tattooing her on the same place two hundred times.

"Does it hurt yet?" Grace asked while trying studying the muerte skull that Freddy had done on her shoulder in a mirror. She was extremely proud of it.

"Yes." Ava said with clenched jaws.

Happy looked up at her with a smile. "Not that much left."

The only relief was every time he sprayed water on her and dried it of. She liked that part.

"No smart quotes for me?" He asked when he put the needle to her skin again.

She sighed. "Could I love less, I should be happier now."

Freddy laughed. "Smart chick."

"I know." Happy said still looking down on her thigh but she saw the slight smile on his lips.

Forty-five minutes later, he was finally done and she was taped up with plastic. Happy started to clean up and Ava tried to pull on her pants.

"It looked nice. It was the same that Gemma had, but different text. And it didn't have the heart on the chest." Grace said.

Ava hadn't even notice those things. "What did he write?"

"Forever mine." She smiled. "Does that mean you're Happy's?"

"Sure does." Happy said and picked her up. "And it includes you. And I made a Smiley face instead of a heart." He said and tickled her.

"Because you have smiley faces?" She said while still giggling slightly after the tickle.

"You are such a smart girl."

"The smartest." She said and gave him a kiss.

Ava walked over to Freddy while Happy and Grace discussed how smart she was. "With all of you expertise. How long will this hurt?"

"Not too long, a couple of days then the itching starts. And you can't scratch." He said with a smile. He handled her a tube of lotion. "Use this and wash with a non perfumed soap with low pH balance."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Grace ran up to Freddy and gave him a hug. "Thank you for the muerte skull. When I turn eighteen, I'll get a real one."

"Just give me a call." Freddy said with a smile. He looked at Happy. "Don't be a stranger, still got people asking for you."

"Gonna do time for a while. I'll call you when I get out."

"Do that. Just give me some dates and I'll book 'em for you."

They waved and left, Ava with her crow tattoo. Happy put his arms around her shoulders. "Want another one?"

"No."

"It's like a drug, once you start, you'll want more of them."

"I think I'll be fine with just this one." She said and gave him a kiss. "I'll see you at home."

-o0o-

It was late in the evening when Happy walked into the clubhouse and found most of them there.

"What's up?"

"We had an all you can eat for the Chinese. Some of the caracara girls did it to help Jax."

"Cashed in?" He noticed them all looking towards Opie. "What?"

"Lost it." Chibs smiled. "Lyla was there."

"You put his girl there and him as a guard?"

"We didn't want to call you." Bobby said.

"Why the fuck not?"

"Heard you were at Freddy's. Did she get that crow?" Clay had a smug look.

"Yeah."

Bobby handed him a glass and Clay raised his towards him. "To Old Ladies. May yours be wort the trouble that will surely follow her."

He emptied the glass.

"Guessin' Sunshine was happy." Bobby said.

"Yeah. Freddy did a muerte skull on her. She's getting a real one when she turns eighteen."

"If you just made her an Old Lady, what the fuck are you doing here?" Chibs asked.

"Wanted to check in. And she's a bit pissed at me, pain doesn't bring out her nice sides." He admittef and Clay nodded.

"Trouble is already starting."

Piney came with Lyla and Ima. He wondered why Piney was stupid enough to bring that bitch here. He also wondered why she was stupid enough to come after those crazy ladies filled her car with led. But she wasn't his problem, she had never been after him. She was all about Jax.

Just as Opie walked by and squeezed his shoulder with a "Congrats man." Juice came up to them with the computer.

Cameron had been killed on Ireland and they had lost the only lead they had to Abel.

-o0o-

Ava woke up when Happy stroked her tattoo, she turned around and put her arm around him.

"Sorry." He said and smiled.

"Like it?" She was brushing her lips against his, he tasted of whiskey.

"Yes."

"Your mom called here today. I didn't know she had this number."

"Gave it to her." His hand was trailing the scars on her back, she was starting to like it when he did that. Some scars were completely numb and others were very sensitive. The differences it created a strange feeling and she liked it. "What did she say?"

"Not much, that it was nice to talk to me since you never brought me there." He laughed a little at that. "So you, like, live here now?"

"Do you mind?" He asked with his lips against her cheek.

"As long as I can eat in bed I'm ok with it."

"No. No eating in the bed in my apartment. Unless it's me eating your pussy." He turned her over to her back and started kissing her body, still tracing her scars at her front but this time with his tongue.

"_Our_ apartment." She looked at him. "And I'm going to eat in bed every night before you come home. On your side of the bed."

He chuckled and laid down between her legs, kissing the inside of her thigh. "No you won't."

"When you're inside; I'm gonna eat in bed every night and walk all over the apartment while brushing my teeth." She closed her eyes and felt his tongue on her thigh and the cold trace it was leaving behind. "That gives you something to think about at night when you're locked up."

"No you're not." His kisses went further and further down her thigh. "You're going to lie in this position and imagine me doing this, touching yourself, every night. That's what I'm going to think about." He said before licking between her legs.

"So you'll be thinking about me?" It was very hard to talk.

He kept his lips agains her and mumbled on her clit. "You know it."

"Oh God." She moaned. "This and your perfect dick. That's what I'll be thinking about." That was the last thing she said in a while.

When he had made her come, he moved up her body and kissed her before gently pressing inside of her. "This one?" He whispered in her ear.

"Yes."

"Think we're going to have to practice." He suddenly said and pulled out before even moving.

"What?" She opened her eyes and he had his most devilish smile. "No!" She sat up and put her arms around him trying to pull him back. "That's mean."

"Can you even get yourself off?" He teased her before kissing her.

"I've got time to practice later." She tried to pull him down again.

"No, now." He removed her arms and pushed her down on her back. "I'll help you."

"Are you going to practice?"

"Babe, trust me, I've had plenty of practice."

"So you're just going to watch me?"

"Yes."

"But..."

He laid down next to her. "I'll fuck you from behind if you do this first."

She glared at him. "I really hate you sometimes."

"Getting older here, babe."

"This is what bikers to do you. Make you all horny. And then they just stop. Mean bastards." She still wasn't touching herself. She didn't want to, not while he was watching.

"I wanna watch. Need something to think about at night in my cell." He carefully kissed her breast. "I wanna know what you look like while I'm thinking of you. So I can imagine that you're doing it at the same time."

That was kind of sweet but she knew him, he said sweet things just to make her do what he wanted. She looked at him. "Beg!"

He laughed. "Please, babe, give me something to think about."

She tried but was not comfortable at all and he noticed. Of course he did, he noticed everything so he leaned his upper body over her, kissed her breasts and kissed her and by the time she noticed that he had stopped doing it, she was all worked up.

"Fucking hell, you are beautiful." He mumbled and she opened her eyes, he was staring at her, all over her.

"Please!" She said and seconds later he flipped her around and she was on all all four. He grabbed her hips and she was moaning the second she felt him against her opening. He pressed himself inside all the way to the hilt and she pushed against him.

He leaned over and kissed her neck, while still moving, and put his arm around her chest. "You are one horny and very sexy bitch."

She laughed and pushed herself against him again, meeting his thrusts, very satisfied to hear him groan. "You like it."

"Fucking love it." He said with a strained voice. He had moved his arm around her hips, pulling her in while pumping. She was so close.

"You're going to miss my pussy, aren't you?" She felt the cramping in her stomach, moving down her thigh. "Oh, God." She mumbled.

He pulled her up and she was basically sitting in his lap, riding him and she leaned her head against his shoulder while she came and finally, when she couldn't move he pushed her flat on her stomach and finished.

"I'm going to miss your pussy like crazy, babe." He mumbled into her hair.

"I used to be such a nice girl." She sighed while kissing his arm. "I never said things like pussy or touched myself to get fucked from behind."

He laughed. "I know, virgin until you were seventeen, reading in the library."

"Look at me now." She was laughing as well.

"Oh, I looked." He kissed her neck. "Not many bitches managed to be hot naked in bed and at a library."

"I'm a very rare specimen, you're a lucky man."

He pulled out and she turned around. "I know." He kissed her. "Two perfect girls."

"Ever going to tell me what tattoo you did for me?"

"No."

"Was it the smiley-face?"

He didn't say anything and just kissed her nose. She turned around with her back against him again. "Go to sleep." He said and put his arm around her, holding her breast.

"I know it was. It's kind of creepy, but I like it."

"Good." He yawned.

"All ok at the clubhouse?"

"No. But I'll tell you tomorrow." He hugged her tighter. "I'm tired as hell and I had to choose between fucking you and talking to you."

"I'm not sure how to interpret that you rather fuck me than talk to me." She yawned as well.

"Interpret it as if you have a cock-blocking daughter and I have to fuck you while she's sleeping and I'll talk to you while she's up." It sounded like he was half asleep already but he jumped when she started to laugh.

"Did you just call my daughter a cock-blocker?"

"Kind of glad she is. Not sure I would ever leave your bed if she wasn't around."

Just a few minutes later he was sleeping and not long after she fell asleep as well, counting the throbs on her thigh. It was hurting like hell and she felt feverish.


	21. We want to talk to you in private

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters, they belong to Kurt Sutter and FX._

_As always; I am ever grateful for all the favs, alerts and especially reviews. An extra thank you to those of the reviewers who have disabled the private messaging feature since I can't send you the usual 'thank you'._

_I'm in somewhat of a struggle with this story and how to make it work with the actual series, but I think I've had it figured now. I hope you like it._

* * *

**Chapter 21: We want to talk to you in private **

Sunday morning. It always made her think of the Velvet Underground song. She gave Happy a kiss and got up. She turned around and looked at the bed and noticed black marks everywhere.

"God damn!"

"What?" Happy rubbed his eyes.

"There's ink all over the bed."

"Happens every time." He just turned around.

"Think it'll come off in the wash?"

"It's pretty permanent ink, babe." He chuckled. "Wash the tattoo, let it air-dry and put lotion on it. It'll hurt less when you've done that."

It did actually hurt so she did as he had said and he was right. The throbbing stopped but she was still quite swollen. She walked back into the bedroom.

"Is it usually this swollen?" Happy opened his eyes again and pulled her closer and looked at the tattoo. He smiled when he did. "You love it."

"I love that you have it." He said and looked up at her. "Looks good, they're usually quite swollen for a couple of days. Whenever it starts hurting or feel warm do that again."

"The washing and stuff?" She asked and he just nodded, still looking at the tattoo.

Grace came running and jumped on Happy's back. "Breakfast!" She said while hugging him from behind with her arms around his neck.

"What do you want?" Ava asked and pulled on a pair of sweatpants, just the thought of pulling denim over the tattoo made her shrug.

"French toast with cinnamon sugar."

Happy got up and still had Grace hanging on his back. "I'd like scrambled eggs and bacon."

"Sounds like we're doing a massive Sunday breakfast then." Ava said and gave them both a kiss.

Happy left after breakfast and Ava collected all the clothes. A noon at the laundromat was on her schedule. It would be ok to have sweatpants all day there. People had the strangest clothes at those places. She usually spend the time reading or trying to figure out who was there without underwear. She refused to believe that she was the only one who once in a while was at the laundromat wearing only sweatpants and t-shirt since it was the only clean clothes she had.

-o0o-

Happy was walking next to Clay. His moms medicine was getting extremely expensive and with him on his way inside he needed to cut costs. He would need to help Ava as well, no matter what she fucking thought she was his Old Lady now and he was going to provide for her and Grace.

He explained the situation and it turned out that Piney had a solution to his problem, as it turned out, it was a solution to Bobby's problem as well. So they were going to head out to some chick who pushed scripts after delivering the guns.

Since that night with Jonah he had started to like Piney even more that he used to. He was a good guy and the slight chuckle when he had asked Happy if he needed privacy still made him smile. It wasn't that he was about to torture Fuckface, it was out of respect for Ava. It was hard to not like an badass old fashioned gentleman like that.

What had sounded like an easy fix turned bad the second they got out of the bikes. Some fucking rednecks were tearing the place apart and he obviously didn't have any cell cover out in the middle of nowhere.

Some brothers saved the fucking day and he was royally pissed that he'd had a gun against his neck. He fucking hated when that happened but all in all he had at least gotten the meds for his mom and a good contact whenever he needed more.

Of course that wasn't the end of the shit that day and this time it was Gemma who made matters worse. Disappearing and finally falling to the ground outside the clubhouse. They turned into the lot just in time to see her hit the ground.

When the ambulance had left he walked up to Tara. "Give Ava a call when you know more."

"Sure." She nodded.

"She'll want to know that Gemma's ok."

"I know." When he started to walk back to the bike she yelled at him. "Don't forget the meds."

He turned around and went to the van. "Thanks."

"I heard she did it." Tara said with a smile.

"What?"

"The tattoo." Happy nodded and realized that he had no idea where Tara's crow was. He had never seen it. Proved his point that it didn't have to be visible to keep other guys off. He waved at her and she waved back. "Give my love to her and Grace."

"Yeah."

-o0o-

When he walked through the door, Ava met him in the hallway. "Ohhh, you have present for me."

"Sure do, but it's not in the box." He smiled and kissed her. "Got some bad news."

"Ok."

"Gemma had... like a heart attack."

"Like?"

"Probably something with that heart shit she's got."

"Oh." She looked worried.

"Tara's going to call you when she knows more so don't worry."

"I'll worry when I've talked to Tara then." She put her arms around him. "What's in the box?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow." She was just so fucking curious about strange things like that.

"Tell me now or you're not getting any."

He pressed her agains the wall. "Sure about that?"

Ava was trying her very best to not give in and pushed him out of her way and walked into the kitchen.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah." She took out the leftovers from the dinner and put them on a plate and in the microwave.

He came up behind her and pressed her against the counter and her thigh hit the cabin.

"Aoch, shit!"

"What."

"The tattoo." He laughed and knelt down and pulled down her pants.

"You should wash that." He kissed her stomach and got up again. "Now."

"Did you just pulled down my pants?"

"Yes." He smiled. "You're my Old Lady. I can pull down your pants whenever I like."

"Really? I don't think you mentioned that."

"Left out the good parts." He said. "Thought I'd surprise you later." He took cutlery from the drawer and a glass.

She glared at him and then simply stepped out of the pants and walked into the bathroom, she wouldn't need them. Earlier that day she had tried to was the tattoo in the sink but it was impossible so this time she leaned her foot on the inside edge of the bathtub to wash it in the shower.

Hap came in, holding her phone. "It's Tara."

She turned of the shower. "Hallo?"

"Hey, just wanted to call you and tell you that Gemma'll be fine."

"Thank you. And the situation with the police?"

"She's handcuffed to the bed."

"Fuck." Ava started to look around for a towel and Happy took one from the hook on the inside of the door and handed it to her. "Any news on that department?"

"No. We'll know more tomorrow."

"Ok."

"If you come by the hospital I'll try to sneak you in to see her."

"Sounds good. I'll see you at the hospital after work." They said good bye and she handed the phone back to Happy who was smiling.

"Did you miss with the shower or are you just really happy to see me?"

Her panties was wet and she just threw her tongue out at him. "What's in the box?"

"If I tell you tomorrow, will you give me some today?"

"No, but if you tell me tomorrow I'll give you some then."

He put her phone in his pocked and walked up to her. "You should take every chance you get. I'll be going inside soon." She took at deep breath and put her arms around his neck. He pulled down her underwear. "Shouldn't have wet underwear."

"I'll miss you."

"I know." He kissed her. "Show me how much you'll miss me."

Ava laughed, took off her t-shirt and walked to the bedroom. Then she showed him.

-o0o-

When Happy had dropped of Grace in the morning he went to the clubhouse. There was some Crow Eaters there and he walked by them and found Chucky.

"Where are they?"

"At the hospital, with Gemma." He nodded and went outside.

He found them in the chapel of the hospital.

"Hey, how's she doing?"

"Just woke up, wanted to talk to Jax." Opie said. Happy sat down in front of Chibs and Juice.

"Need to dump the drugs we got from the Red Necks." Juice said. "We need cash"

He nodded.

"I'll go pull the trigger on those bounty hunters." Bobby said and left. Happy looked at Opie with raised eyebrows.

"The Canadians, to look for Abel."

A while later Jax came back inside.

"McGee's old lady called mom yesterday. According to her, Abel is in Belfast."

"Didn't O'Neil say that Cameron was on his own when they scooped him up?" Happy asked.

"Yeah."

"So who the fuck do we trust?" Chibs sat down next to him and scratched his neck.

"No need to trust anyone yet." Jax said and Happy agreed, better to be skeptical towards everyone until they knew more. "You and Ope follow me to Luke and let's hear what he has to say. You four," He waved against the other's including Happy. "Try to unload the steroids. You free today?" The last part was directed at him.

"Need to visit my mom later, she's running out of meds, but I'm free until the afternoon."

"Good." He put a hand on his shoulder. Jax and the others walked outside and he got up and looked at Tig and Juice who were still sitting down.

"You coming?"

"When are you asking for that transfer?"

"Quinn's giving me the papers tomorrow."

"Good, we need you, man." Tig said and gave him a hug.

"Guessin' I've got your vote then."

"Without a doubt." Tig kept the arm around him. "I can almost guarantee that you got everyones vote."

-o0o-

Ava and Grace walked into the hospital after work and school and they sat down in the waiting area. Tara came and met her.

"I can sneak you in but I'm not sure about Grace. Think you can wait with me?"

"Oh, I wanted to see Gemma." She had insisted on her best dress even after Ava had explained that she wasn't sure if she could see Gemma.

"I know, honey. And I promise that you will, just not today."

"Promise to ask her about the pink t-shirt." Grace was pouting.

"I'll do that." She gave Grace a kiss and they both followed Tara.

Ten minutes later she was in Gemma's room and Clay was there with her.

"Hey darlin'." Gemma said and Ava gave her a hug.

"How's the heart?"

"Not sure. Sit down." Gemma had a way of saying things that made you do them without even thinking. She would have been a great general in any war.

"Just wanted to see you." Ava smiled and looked up at Clay who had a very serious face. "What's going on?"

"Abel might be in Belfast." Gemma blurted out.

"Belfast?" Just then her phone rang and she looked at it. "It's Happy."

"Pick up, shouldn't keep your Old Man waiting." Clay said and sat down next to Gemma.

"Old Man?" She heard Gemma say just as she answered.

"_Where are you?"_

"At the hospital, visiting Gemma."

"_Is Grace with you?"_

"She's with Tara."

"_I'll pick you up in twenty minutes."_ Then he hung up.

"He's picking me up in twenty minutes." She looked back at Gemma. "What?"

"Old Man? Guess he got that ink on you."

Ava just nodded. "So, in Belfast?"

"A friend of the club called me."

"But Happy talked about Canada."

"Someone is full of shit and we're not sure who." Clay said.

Ava sat quiet for a while. They were very quiet as well and it kind of felt like they were testing her and she didn't want to fail them. That might not be the case but it sure was what it felt like.

"Who would gain most on feeding you false information?" They were both still quiet, just lookin at her and Ava swallowed. "I mean, it's not so much about who would tell you the truth and who you can trust. That's always hard to know but it's generally easier to figure out who would gain most on you not knowing for certain where he is Who would either _not_ want you in Belfast or who would want you to go there." They were both quiet and she dried her hands on her knees. "It was just a thought."

"No!" Gemma said. "You're right."

"It something to think about." Clay nodded. She assumed that she passed the test. If it was a test.

"I need to get going, Happy was going to pick us up. I just wanted to say hi." She gave Gemma a kiss on the cheek. "I know this is of no importance what so ever, but Grace wanted me to ask you."

"What?" Gemma said and Clay started laughing. He knew what Grace wanted.

"She wants a pink SOA t-shirt."

Gemma stared at her and then she smiled. "I'll take care of it, tell her not to worry."

"She also says she misses you."

"Tell her I miss her too and give her a kiss from me."

"I will."

Clay got up and followed her to the door. He gave her a hug. "Smart Old Ladies it what keeps us going. I'm glad he's got you."

"I'm glad I have him." She gave Clay a hug.

Happy and Grace was waiting for her in Tara's office and they got out to her car.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you to meet my mom."

"Marianne?" Grace asked.

"Yes."

Grace took his hand and started skipping next to him. "Does she know that we're coming?"

"Yes, I called her earlier." He put his arm around Ava's shoulders. "The box was her meds." He said and she laughed.

"What did Gemma say about pink t-shirts?"

"She said she'd take care of it."

Grace gave Happy a big smile and he shook his head. "God damn." He mumbled.

-o0o-

Happy was holding Grace's right hand and Ava her left. Every few step she took a long leap and she was singing some song.

When they came into the dining room he saw his mom and when she saw him she smiled and got up. She came up to them and he gave her a hug.

"Ma, this is Ava and Grace."

She turned to Ava first and gave her a hug. "It is very nice to finally meet you." Then she turned to Grace. "And this must be the magnificent Grace."

Grace laughed and gave her a hug.

They walked into her room and sat down.

"Happy told me you're a librarian."

"Yes."

"Have you managed to get him to read a book yet?"

"No, I haven't. But he's been to the library."

His mom laughed and looked at him. "Really. I remembered the last time you were at the library. Got suspended for two weeks."

He looked at Ava and she laughed. He hadn't told her that part of the 'in library'-blow job. He shrugged at her. By know he had done far better things at the library without even looking at a book.

"What did you do in the library?" Grace said while climbing up in the couch next to his mom. "Did you destroy the books?"

"Something like that." Happy said.

"Mom is really good at finding books for people. She always knows what they'll like to read." Grace said that to Marianne who smiled at her.

"That is a sign of a really good librarian." She looked at Ava but was still talking to Grace. "What do you think she would suggest to Happy?"

"Mom! What?" Grace reached for one of the sandwiches that his mom had made sure was waiting for them in the room.

"What book I would tell him to read first?" Ava smiled at him and as always he couldn't help but to smile back. "That's really tricky one. I'm going to have to think about it for a while. Maybe 'Of Mice and Men'."

"A bit sad." His mom said with a smile. "Might be suiting though."

"Or 'The Shining'."

"Probably best to start with that one." His mother agreed with a nod and then looked at him. "That's settled, you should read 'The Shining'."

"I'm not reading." He said while reaching for a sandwich.

"Then what are you going to do all that time in jail?"

"I like to read." Grace was obviously starting to feel overlooked and Happy took her into his lap.

"Maybe you could read to me instead." He said and was granted a huge smile. "Some book about bikes."

"I have books about bikes."

"I know you do. I'd rather hear about that then about mice and shine."

Grace laughed and he looked up at his mom who had a strange smile in her face.

"Grace, what is you favorite book?" She asked.

"Oh." He could see her brain going ballistic. Ava had looked the same when he once asked her what her favorite book was. "I like 'The Borrowers' and 'Goodnight Mr. Tom' and The Narnia books of course."

"Of course. No-one can dislike the Narnia-books." His mom agreed with a serious nod.

They talked for another hour and then he noticed that his mom was getting tired and they decided to leave. Just as they were about to leave Grace gave his mom a hug.

"Can we visit you when Happy is in jail?"

"I would love it if you did." She answered.

"You two go to the car. I'll be there in a minute." He said and they left. "I got you some meds."

"Do I want to know from where?" She said with a smile when she took the box.

"No."

"They're great." That comment wasn't about the meds.

"I know."

"And you're great with them." She put her hand on his cheek. "I'm very happy for you."

He gave her a kiss. "I'll try to come by soon."

"Tell them that they can come whenever they like."

"I'll do that."

"Take care of them."

"I will, mom." He gave her another kiss. "I'll call you and you call me if there's anything."

They waited outside of the car and Grace seemed anxious. "Think she liked me?" Grace asked and he picked her up.

"Sugar, she loved you."

"Think I can call her grandma'?"

"She'd like that."

"I don't have one." She seemed very concerned about that.

"You do now. And Gemma's like a grandmother as well."

"So I have two now?"

"Looks like it." He opened the door and put her in the car seat.

-o0o-

By the time Ava parked the car outside of her building, Grace was asleep in the car. For some reason that girl could keep her eyes open in a moving car.

She had dropped Happy off a the hospital where his bike was and he said he'd go by the clubhouse before coming home.

He came late and snuck his arm around her, just as usual. "Bad news?" She said when she saw his face. It didn't look good.

"Abel's in Belfast."

"You need to go get him." She said and put her leg around his waist.

"It's just the club leaving. But they're voting for my transfer tomorrow at church." He mumbled into her neck.

"You worried?" He had explained how the voting worked, the entire club had to agree.

"No."

"I'll miss you, when you're in Belfast." She felt, rather than heard his chuckle.

"Good time to practice."

"Have you had a date for the trial?"

"No, but they're pushing for a new bail hearing."

"And you're leaving?" He nodded and looked her into the eyes. She knew why, he wanted to make sure that she understood what that meant, what it would mean if they missed the bail hearing. She caressed his face. "You _all_ need to do what you have to do to get Abel back."

"You'd make Gemma so proud." He smiled and Ava smiled back at him.

"Good, I'd hate to be on her bad side."

"You'd know if you were on her bad side, trust me." His hands was starting to move all over her body. "And you're not. They were very impressed with you today."

"So that was a test." His hands was starting to make her loose focus.

"No, and yes, I guess."

"You're not making sense now."

"I might be if I wasn't touching you."

Ava didn't give a shit anymore and kissed him to make him shut up. They would have to talk about that some other time.

-o0o-

Tuesdays was according to Ava the most pointless day of the week. It wasn't Monday that everyone hated, Mondays tendency to slap you in the face with all the things you should've done the week before and just in general put people in a bad mood.

Wednesdays meant you were halfway through the working week and you were more than catching up with the work you should've done the week before. On Thursdays you could practically smell the weekend and Friday was Friday. You knew you wouldn't have to work and could sleep in the next day. You felt so good about things that you left things for the Monday, thinking that you'd have enough time to fix it the next week.

But Tuesdays was just that meaningless filler-day that didn't seem to have any purpose whatsoever. Sometimes Tuesdays tended to slap you in the face for ignoring it, it certainly did that to Ava this Tuesday. There was nothing in the phone call that had prepared Ava for what would meet her when she came downstairs in the library.

"Ava, there are people her asking for you." The receptionist said on the phone and Ava had simply walked down the stairs and when she saw who it was she almost threw up.

It was Eric and Mary Richardson, Jonah's parents.

"What are you doing here?" She didn't wait for their reply ans simply turned to Katherine. "Call Mr. Keller."

"We want to talk to you." Eric said.

Ava ignored them and kept her eyes in the direction which James would come from. He smiled at her and seemed confused when he came towards them.

"Is there somewhere we can talk?" Eric continued, still trying to get Ava's attention.

"Mr. Keller, this is Eric and Mary Richardson, could you please stay with me while I talk to them?"

"Of course." He said and turned towards them, still looking slightly confused. "You can come with me to my office."

"We want to talk to you in private." Mary said and just the mere voice from the woman gave Ava the shivers.

"I don't want to talk to you in private, you either follow me into Mr. Keller's office or we don't talk at all."

Mary was about to say something but Eric stopped her and they followed her.

The second James closed the door she opened her mouth. "How did you find me?"

"Jonah told us he was going here." Mary said in a defiant tone.

Mary had never been the brain in the family, that was for sure but Ava knew who was and looked at Eric. He looked down at the floor and she knew that he knew what Mary just admitted to. They both knew fully well that she had a restraining order against Jonah and they hadn't done anything to stop him. That might not be illegal, but it didn't look good in the public's eyes. And Eric cared about the public.

"Do you know where he is?" Eric asked.

"No."

"Did he come here?" There was something pleading in his voice and she almost felt sorry for him, almost.

"If he had been here I wouldn't still be here. You both know that." She looked at them and realized that this wasn't the reason that they were here. "What is it you really want?"

"We want visitation rights with Grace." That fucking bitch said.

She took a deep breath, trying to slow down her pulse and said as calmly as possible. "No." She exhaled and tried to take another breath. She had thought that she would be prepared for this but she wasn't. "I'm not giving you that."

"We have rights." Mary said.

"No you don't and I'm not going to let you use her as some poster child for your filthy campaigns" She looked at Eric for the last part and he at least had the decency to blush. Obviously she had been right about one of the reasons why he wanted Grace. "You're going to have to sue me for it."

"You bitch!" Mary said. "All you ever wanted was Jonahs money, that was the only reason you or your filthy brother ever wanted him. He lured you into Jonah's bed and Jonah gave you everything you ever wanted and you still had the audacity to claim that he hurt you." Mary lost it as she so often did in Ava's presence. This is why she wanted James to be there with her. She need to make sure that someone else saw this. She wasn't proud of putting him in this situation but she didn't have much of a choice. She looked at James with an excusing smile and he nodded back at her. He had probably figured most of it out by now.

Eric finally walked up to Mary and pulled her out of Ava's face. "This isn't the time." Mary shut her mouth and Eric looked at Ava. "You'll hear from our lawyer, we will be staying in town until this is resolved." There wasn't anything threatening in his voice and Ava nodded at him. She wished she had met him under different circumstances and before he met Mary.

Ava opened the door for them and when she stepped out herself, Agent Stahl was waiting for her.

"I see you had a happy family reunion."

Ava had to use every ounce of self control to stop herself from beating the disgusting smirk out of the bitch's face.

"What do you want?"

"I had some follow up questions." She smiled.

"This isn't a good time." Ava tried to walk pass her but was stopped by a hand on her arm. "Please don't touch me. I don't like to be touched."

"It won't take a minute."

"I really don't care. If you want to force me then take me to the station, otherwise get you fucking hand off me and let me go."

Stahl let go and put her hands up. "No need, just come by the station tomorrow."

"Fine." She said and continued up to her office to get her bag. She called Happy.

"_Hey, babe. Could you come to the clubhouse? We need your help."_

"Sure." That was all they said before hanging up, they were not much for talking on the phone. When she turned around James was looking at her.

"How are you?"

She put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. "Not too good."

"I wouldn't have known, you seemed very calm while talking to them."

"That's good." She sat down on one of the visitor's chairs. "I always knew that they would pull one of these stunts on me. I thought I'd be able to deal with it."

James sat down next to her. "You'll be fine. Listen, there's a lot going on in your life right now. Maybe you should take some personal days and deal with all this?"

"That would probably be best. I'm not sure I'm of any use right now anyway."

"If there's anything urgent I'll call you." James got up. "Take care of your girl."

Ava got up as well. "I feel really bad. You just gave me the job and I'm messing things up already."

"You're not. Your situation is not optimal at the moment but that doesn't mean that you're not the perfect person for this job." He patted her back. "Fix things and then come back."

"Thank you, Mr. Keller."

She was on her way to the clubouse when she realized that she should pick Grace up. She didn't want to leave her in school in case the Richardsons did something stupid. It wouldn't help their case but Mary was an idiot. Her husband wasn't, he was smart and he was probably once a quite nice person. His money-desiring, status-hungry bitch of a wife had taken that out of him years ago.

Ava had actually been preparing for this, it still hit her like a log in the head and she was just now starting to sort things out, remembering what she had planned and how she was going to do this. She took a few deep breaths, turned the car around to Grace's school and did mental notes to herself on what she needed to take care of.


	22. I'm very safety conscious

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters, it all belongs to Kurt Sutter._

_I am really, really sorry to keep you waiting. Holiday season sucks when it's not you on holiday, tends to keep my very busy work schedule even more hectic. I'm especially sorry that I kept all my reviewers waiting for my reply to the reviews and I hope I haven't forgotten anyone. If I have, you have my sincerest apologies._

_Thank you also for all the favs and alerts, both to the story and to me as a writer (that makes me blush every time it happens!)_

_Hopefully you won't have to wait for the next chapter, but I'm not making any promises. My vacation is coming up though and I'm planning on just writing for the first week!_

* * *

**Chapter 22: I'm very safety conscious**

When Ava walked through the doors to Grace's school she realized that she was holding her breath and exhaled. They wouldn't have let anyone they didn't know pick up Grace and it wouldn't have been enough time for anyone else to do that anyway.

When she found Grace's teacher she explained the situation and that she didn't want Grace in school until it all this had been resolved.

"So she needs some time off." She finished and was relieved when the teacher nodded and put a hand on her arm.

"It's not a problem. I'll put some homework together and the semester is soon over anyway. She's not missing much."

"Thank you."

She went into the classroom and got found Grace next to Peter, their heads close together as they read a book. When Grace noticed her she smiled but looked slightly confused.

"Mom, why are you here?"

"You're taking a few days off. I thought you could go and visit Clark."

Grace studier her and then nodded. She turned around and gave Peter a hug before picking her bag up. They waited a while as the teacher put Grace's homework together. None of them said anything.

As they walked towards the car Ava stopped, turned Grace around and kneeled down in front of her.

"Ask me." She said. Ava knew that Grace was wondering and it was better if she asked what it was the bothered her the most rather that Ava starting to blurt out things Grace didn't care about. Kids worried about different things that adults.

"Why?" Grace said without looking at her.

"Your dad's parents are here. I'm not sure exactly what they are up too but they want to meet you and I don't want them to."

"I don't want to meet them. I already have two grandmas and loads of uncles."

"What?"

"I have Marianne and Gemma and all of the other guys. I don't need more family. I don't want _his_ family." Grace said the word 'his' as if it was a curse word.

"I know and it's better if you're in New York with Clark while I sort this out." She hugged Grace. "You don't have to worry at all. I promise you. You know I'm quite smart, right?"

"You are."

"And you know I'm good a planning. We've always had a way out, right?"

"Yes."

"And I've been expecting this."

"You have a plan?" Grace leaned back and looked at her.

"I sure do. So no worrying, ok? But if there's anything you want to know _ask me_ instead of worrying about it."

"Ok." Grace gave her a kiss. "You're the best mom, ever!"

"And you're the best daughter, ever!" She hugged her and they went over to the car.

-o0o-

Happy was wondering where the fuck Ava was, it had been almost an hour since he called. That's when he remembered that he didn't call. She did. She never called during work. And he hadn't even thought about asking her why she called. He was not good at this shit.

By the time the car stopped at the lot he was pissed and confused. To add to his confusion; Grace came running and he picked her up, she should still be in school. She hugged him really tight, something was definitely fucked up.

"What's going on?" He asked when Ava came walking. He did take time to notice how fucking hot she looked, she had his favorite dress on.

"Grace, go into the clubhouse and see if Bobby's got something for you." Ava smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. This wasn't good.

"Tell me!" He said as soon as Grace was out of earshot.

"Jonah's parents came to see me today."

Only the fact that he wanted to hear more stopped him from getting on the bike to go and find them and introduce them to their fuckface son.

"And?"

"They want visitation right. At least that's what they said." She put her arms around his waist. "Don't worry. I've got this covered. I just don't want them to 'accidentally' run into Grace."

He hugged her tighter and gave her a kiss. "I'm still worried."

"Please, just focus on this Abel-thing. Trust me." She kissed his chin. "I'll explain everything tonight."

She seemed calm on the outside but he noticed the slight panic in her eyes. Before he could ask more questions, they were interrupted by Clay.

"Ava! Thanks for coming."

Ava let go of him but he kept his arm around her shoulders. "No problem."

"Come on, let's have a talk." They walked into the Chapel and Happy was extremely glad that she was his Old Lady, he wanted to be with her for this. "We've come over some HIV-drugs and need to sell them. We're short on cash and we need money." Clay explained.

"Ok?" Ava said and sounded confused.

"I wondered if you might know somewhere to sell them?"

"Oh!" She smiled. "I'll make some calls but honestly; most of them don't have money. Their medication is usually donated. But I'll see what I can do." She shrugged. "They might be able to tell me someone who would buy it at least."

"All I ask for." Clay said and then looked up at Happy. "Did you tell her the good news?"

He smiled and watched Ava's confused face. "What news?"

"I'm a member of Redwood Originals."

"Wow!" She gave him a hug.

"So now you're going to have to sow the new patches on my cut." He added.

She suddenly froze up. "What?" She looked at Clay and then back at him. "I can't sow."

"You didn't make sure she could do that before inking her?" Clay shook his head and they started walking outside.

Happy noticed Grace in a conversation with Bobby and Tig so he pulled Ava towards his dorm. He wasn't really prepared to wait for all the info until later that night. He pushed her against the dresser with one arm on each side of her waist, leaning against it.

"What's the plan?"

She pulled up his t-shirt and stroke his back before placing that perfect fucking ass on the dresser. "Focus on Abel, don't worry about this." She mumbled against his lips. He ran his hand along her thigh until he reached her tattoo.

"This here." he stroke the ink, looking straight into her eyes. "Means that Grace is my kid and I'm going to look after her. So I'm worried."

Ava put her arms around his neck. "She's been my kid for six years and I've prepared for something like this the entire time." She wrapped her leg around his ass and he was getting hard. "Don't worry."

Happy was trying to decide on whether he should keep pushing on the plan or just pull down her underwear when there was a knock on the door.

"We need to go to the hospital." Tig yelled.

"We're finishing this later." Happy said and gave her a final kiss.

"The talk or the fuck?" He laughed and pulled in the waistline of her underwear.

"Both."

"So you're in this club now?" She said as she jumped down from the dresser.

"Yes." He opened the door and put his arm around Ava. "Not getting rid of me now."

"Did I ever had a chance to get rid of you?"

"No."

"Dang, I was going to make a final try."

He pushed her against the wall. "Say it!" She hadn't said it in a while and he wanted to hear it today. Most things were shit and he wanted to kill Jonah's parents so he needed to hear it. That might calm him down.

She put her arms around him and whispered in his ear. "I love you, Happy. Very much."

"I know."

-o0o-

Ava watched them drive off with Grace next to her.

"Tig and Kozik had a fight." Grace said when they walked to the car.

"Really?"

"Yes and Happy is in this Chapter now."

"I know, he told me." She took Grace's hand. "Do you know why they fought?"

"No, but they both had bruises and kept staring at each other."

There wasn't much that passed Grace. "I'm sure they'll be friends soon."

"Don't think so." She started skipping. "I promised Tig that I would always like him best."

"When?"

"When we were living here, with all the others."

"Oh."

"And I told them that Gemma had promised me a pink t-shirt." Grace laughed. "I don't think they liked that."

"Are you worried, honey?" Ava wanted to make sure that Grace wasn't too worried.

"Not much." Grace was climbing into the car. "When am I going to Clark?"

"I'm going to ask him to come and get you tomorrow."

"Think I'll meet anyone from the club in New York?"

"Probably, Clark work at their garage." Ava closed Grace's door and got into the car as well. "Happy or someone will probably call them and make sure they keep you safe."

"Ok."

"Let's just get home and call Clark and pack your things. I'll come and get you in New York in a couple of days."

"Can I bring my SOA t-shirts."

"Absolutely." Ava looked into the rearview mirror. Grace seemed ok and sending her away was a way of making sure that she would still be ok. She wouldn't have to see Ava worrying. Cause if she was still in Charming, Ava would worry. This gave her space to do what she needed to do and she would have to go to New York whether Grace was there or not.

-o0o-

"Another tough day?" She said when she put her arms around Happy's neck and kissed him in the hallway.

"Shit day. Wanna talk or fuck first?" He said and picked her up.

"Talk, then fuck to forget it."

"How about fuck, talk and then fuck." He lifted her up and started to carry her towards the bedroom.

"Ohhh, think you can do that?" She said as she wrapped her legs around him.

"Shut up bitch."

When she was holding him a while later he told her the short version of the day. The raid in the club house did at least mean that she didn't have to make any more calls about the HIV-drugs. She had called a couple of old contacts and they had given her some other names. She had told Happy but hadn't heard anything more than that. She assumed they had solved it some other way but didn't feel the need for any more details.

"Tell me about them?" Happy said into her hair.

"Eric and Mary?"

"Yes."

"They're old money. Very rich and Jonah could never do anything wrong as far as they were concerned. I was the white trash whore who lured him in for his money. They hated my guts from day one."

"Idiots!" He gave her a kiss.

"I'm not really sure what they're really after. Mary is stupid as fuck but Eric is smart. My guess is that he wants Grace to have lovely family pictures taken for his campaign."

"Campaign?"

"He's got political ambitions." She stroke Happy's cheek and head. He was in seriousl need of shave she noticed. "That's probably just part of it. They might just think I'm a lousy mom."

"What are their chances?"

"Here in California; pretty much none. They have no previous bond, Grace wouldn't know who they were even if they stood right in front of her."

"So what do you think?"

"Not sure, they might sue for custody."

"Fuck!" Happy said and rubbed his face. "Can they do that?"

"They have enough money to pretty much do what they want." She wrapped herself around him again. "Don't worry, I'm prepared for this."

"Why the fuck are you not worrying?" He seemed pissed all of a sudden. "They can cause you a shit load of troubles."

"Because I've read the law." She sighed. "Trust me, I'm prepared for this, I know them and I know how to handle them and what to do." She hugged him tighter. "You're going to Belfast soon, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I'm sending Grace up to New York to stay with Clark, just for a couple of days."

"You said there was nothing to worry about." He looked at her and she could see his brain working on overdrive. "Are you running?"

"No. Happy, I'm not running but she misses Clark and I need to fix things." She laid down on top of him. "I don't want her around and I want to make sure that they don't try to meet her 'by accident'. Happy, don't even think about this, I'm a smart bitch. And you're not getting rid of me." She smiled and kissed him. He grabbed her neck and kissed her hard.

"Just making sure you know that I would come after you." He finally said.

"Good to know." She put her nose to his neck. "Could you make sure that the club there look after her?"

"I thought you said that there was nothing to worry about."

"I'm very safety conscious." He flipped her around and stroke her behind.

"I'll make sure someone calls them. You need to keep me updated." She nodded and pulled him down. "How's the ink?"

"Itchy as hell."

He laughed. "No scratching."

"Guess you better keep me occupied."

-o0o-

Happy woke up when his phone rang and he managed to untangle himself from Ava.

"What!"

"_We're at the table in an hour."_

"Ok."

He turned and looked at Ava. Smart bitch, if she said she had it under control, she had it under control. When it came to Grace she never left anything to chance. He was still going to make sure that there was people keeping an eye on both his girls.

He kissed her neck. "Babe."

"Hmmm?"

"When's Clark coming?"

"Before noon." She said and put her arm around him. "I'll miss you."

"I know." He pinched her ass. "Get out of bed and make your Old Man some breakfast."

Her only reaction was laughing so he reached down and bit her at the same spot he just pinched.

"Are you nibbling on your ass?" She said while still laughing.

"It's a nice ass." He turned her around and looked at the crow, it was healing up. "Come on. I need to be at the club in an hour and I'd like to at least have breakfast today."

"What time are you leaving?"

"Tonight, I think. It'll probably be a busy day."

"Ok, make sure you say bye to Grace properly."

"I will." She finally seemed to be waking up.

"So what does the Old Man want for breakfast?" She said as she was stretching. That made him change his mind, if he didn't have time for breakfast at home Bobby had probably baked something at the clubhouse that he could eat.

"Take a shower with me."

"Are you trying to fuck me so sore I can't cheat on you?"

"More like trying to get my fill." He pulled her out of the bed and she followed him to the shower.

By the time Grace woke up Ava was making pancakes.

"When are you leaving?" Grace asked while stuffing her face with pancakes.

"Later."

"Can you call me so I can come and say goodbye?"

"You know I will, Sugar."

-o0o-

The door and her phone rang at the same time. She picked up the latter while opening the former. As she had suspected it was Clark by the door. She pointed at her phone and he nodded as he walked pass her to find Grace.

"Hallo."

_"Hi, it's Tara, any chance you can meet me?"_

"Something wrong?"

"_Yes. Please, I need to talk to someone."_

"Where are you?"

"_I'm on my way home. Do you know where I live?"_

"Yes. I'll be there as soon as possible." She hung up and looked at Clark who had Grace in his arms. "I'm sorry, something's up with Tara."

"Just go, Grace and I are going to pack cause she's staying with her uncle for a couple of days." He kissed Grace and she was beaming. So Ava got out and went to see what was up with Tara.

When Tara opened the door she looked pissed, upset and sad at the same time.

"What's up?"

"Found Ima in Jax's dorm this morning."

Ava stared at her for a few seconds. "God damn. I'm so sorry." She pushed Tara inside and closed the door. "What did he say?"

"Nothing." Tara walked ahead of her to the kitchen. "Not a fucking word, that fucking, lowlife, sorry excuse of a fucking man."

"You know why he's doing this, right?"

"I do. And he's off the fucking hook. I'm done with him."

"I'm not saying that you should forgive and forget, Tara." Ava sat down next to her. "Just... this is a bad situation all around, maybe you should wait until..."

"Until the worst is over."

"Yeah."

"I don't know Ava. I'm not going to force myself on someone who doesn't want me."

"You know that's not the case."

"I'm not so sure anymore." Tara got up and put two cups on the table. "What's this shit with Jonah's parents?" Seemed like Tara just wanted to talk to someone about anything so Ava sat down opposite her.

"It's nothing. They just hate me and I think they think that I know what happened with Jonah."

"Tell me." Tara said as she sat back down and Ava did. She would have other chances of talking about Jax.


	23. I'm not doing any talking tomorrow

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters. All belongs to Kurt Sutter and FX._

_I'm really, really sorry for the wait. The last week before the vacation always sucks and I've been working my ass off. Whenever I've had the energy to write I've just been writing what I felt like and lately that had been on the Grace-story. So at least that one is well on its way so you won't have to wait for it when I'm done with this. Vacation time is also a bother with traveling and lack of Internet-connection, but I'll do my best to get the next chapter up soon._

_As always: Thank you for your response to this story, I'm overwhelmed and extremely grateful. So thank you for reviews, favs and alerts, all just pouring in. I love it!_

* * *

**Chapter 23: I'm not doing any talking tomorrow**

Ava had a busy day ahead of her so she went home and found Clark and Grace in the middle of the packing. She had hardly had time to say hello to Clark when Tara called. He met her in the hallway and gave her another hug.

"How's my baby sister?"

"I'm fine." She put her bag on the floor. "Some problems with a friend and her... boyfriend, I guess would be the proper word. Or 'Old Man'."

"I like that you have friend, I'm sorry about the problems thought."

"She'll be fine." She walked towards the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"Yeah." He followed her. "I heard you got a tattoo. A crow."

Ava smiled at him, he had a teasing smile on his lips. "Just get it off your chest."

"So you're an Old Lady now?"

"Yes."

"He'll take care of you." Then he pointed towards Grace's. "Both of you."

"I know."

When they sat down at the table.

"I'll come to New York in a couple of days, maybe three."

"Picking up the file?" Clay knew about all of that, what she had planned, he had helped her with some of it.

"Yes. I'm leaving Grace there and if you could come with her when I'm rid of them it would be great." She said while stirring in her cup. Clark hand that face again. "It's not your fault. And they won't get her."

"I know they won't get her."

"You need to let it go, you've helped me more than anyone." Ava took his hand. "You can't beat yourself up about this forever."

Clark squeezed her hand. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing very well." She smiled.

"You seem well."

Grace came skipping into the kitchen. "Will I meet guys from the club there?"

"Yes."

"Good." Grace said and climbed into Clark's lap.

"You and I are going to have a great time. And when mom comes we're going to the zoo. Do you remember last time we were there?"

Grace nodded and looked at Ava, then she jumped down and went over to Ava's lap. "I'm going to miss you."

"Honey, I'll miss you too."

"You'll be all alone. Since Happy is going away as well."

"I'll be fine." She hugged Grace. "I'll take care of everything. You know that, right?"

"I know." Grace nodded. "You always do."

-o0o-

Happy was on the lot and they were all trying to get ready for the trip to Ireland. He went to find Piney to make sure things would run smoothly while he was away. He trusted Ava, but he wanted to make sure someone was keeping an eye on her in case she needed help. She would never ask for help. He hadn't been able to get that out of her yet, she just wasn't used to have people around her.

"Hey." He said when he found Piney.

"Hi Hap, what's up?"

"Ava's got some problems, it's with Jonah's parents."

"Giving her trouble?" Piney said and sat down on a bench and pulled out the bottle.

"Yeah, just keep an eye on her. Let me know if she needs anything."

"I'll help her." He nodded. "Don't worry about it."

"She's sending Grace with Clark to New York."

"I'll give Waldo a call. Make sure she'll be ok."

"Thanks."

Piney looked at him for a few seconds then he got up from the bench again. "She'll be fine, they both will be, I'll make sure of it."

"Thanks." Happy gave him a hug and patted his back. Piney was definitely growing on him.

Ava's car pulled in on the lot and Grace came running from it with Clark just behind her.

"Happy, I've got something for you." Grace yelled and he picked her up. She handed him something and he looked down at it. It was a picture of her and Ava. "I thought you might want it." She looked embarrassed.

"It's perfect, Sugar. I'll keep it in my pocked."

"Like Big Al?"

"Like Bit Al." He gave her a kiss. "You be good and make sure the New York boys are behaving."

"I will." She put her arms around his neck and hugged him really hard. "I love you."

"I love you too, honey." He drew in her smell. Ava better make this good, because he was running out of time and if she hadn't sorted this shit out before he came home, he would kill those fucks, not matter who the fuck they were.

"Find Abel." Grace said and gave him one more hug.

"We will."

"I'm going to miss you, very very very much." She whispered in his ear.

"Give me your phone." He said and she gave it to him. With her still on his arm he programmed a number on it. "This is Piney's number, you call him if there's anything wrong, ok? Here or in New York."

"I will."She gave him a kiss. "Thank you."

He hugged her hard one last time before putting her down. He shook Clark's hand. "If there's anything, call Piney."

Clark nodded. "She'll be fine. Ava will take care of this."

He watched them going back to the car. He still didn't like Clark that much, but at least he helped Ava when she asked him to.

-o0o-

When Gemma came walking towards them, Happy shook his head. Crazy bitch. She kissed his cheek.

"Gives Ally Lowen time to take care of those grandparents." Happy raised his eyebrows. "Oh come on, that girl already have two grandparents, no room for anyone else."

He gave her a hug. "Who told you?" He wasn't sure who had told Gemma about him calling her Grace's grandma, but he had a feeling it wasn't Ava.

"Grace."

"You talked to Grace?" Was there no-one who wasn't on this woman's information-list?

"Sure. Made sure Tara gave her my number." She smiled at him. "And she told me that you said I was kind of like her grandma'." She stepped really close to him, glaring slightly during the last part of the sentence.

Happy couldn't remember the last time he was that fucking close to blushing and Clay laughed behind Gemma. He tried to clear his throat. "Just trying' to cheer her up."

Gemma gave him a firm look, put her nose in the air and took a deep breath. "I kind of like it." Then she strode right past him towards the airplane.

Clay shook his head and squeezed Happy's shoulder as he passed by. "Like I said, the trouble that surely will follow them."

Happy laughed and walked behind him. "I hope mine's easier than yours."

"Wouldn't bet on it lasting, Gemma's got a way to shape the other Old Ladies."

"I've noticed."

-o0o-

Ava was in the empty apartment and found herself wandering from room to room. She finally sighed and picked up her phone.

"I'm panicking here. Wanna come over and keep me company?"

"_Got any coffee?"_

"I even got wine."

"_Coffee's better."_

Twenty minutes later the door rang and she opened it for Tara. "Since when is coffee better?" She took a closer look at Tara's face. "Ohhh." She was pregnant?

"I don't want to talk about it. I've already had the Gemma-speach about looking into Abel's eyes."

It had been a really long time since Ava had a real friend, another woman to talk to about stuff. The 'keeping the baby or not'-talk had come a bit earlier than she had expected though.

"Not going to give you that speech."

"I mean; he's going to jail and I just find him in bed with a fucking porn star. How can I have a baby with a man like that."

Ava laughed. "It could be a lot worse."

"Fuck, I'm sorry I didn't mean... I'm sorry, I just don't think before I open my big mouth sometimes."

"It's not the same thing. I ran, as far away as I could from her dad. You don't want to run away and that makes your situation different." They walked into the kitchen and the coffee Ava had made was waiting on the table.

Ava sat down and Tara got down in front of her, leaning her head in her hands and looked extremely tired.

"Things are just shit right now and this just ads to it. And that's not what it should feel like, I should be happy about this not feel like it's another pile of dump on a huge mountain of it."

"Maybe you should wait for a while anyway. If you're not sure and you can't think straight you should probably give it a couple of weeks at least."

Tara finally looked at her and gave her a tired smile. "Gemma knows."

"Oh." Ava took a sip of coffee. "That changes things. Think she'll tell Jax?"

"She promised she wouldn't, but if she needs to, she'll tell him. Gemma deals with information like the Corleone deals with favors." Tara shook her head and took another sip from her cup. "Let's not... talk about this right now. They talked about nonsense for a while and then suddenly Tara smiled. "Doesn't he ever scare you?"

Ava laughed. "No, not since the first time he came here."

"He scares the shit outta me." Tara emptied her cup. "Only time he doesn't do it is when he's with Grace."

"Is he that different with her?"

"No, I just don't think he'd kill anyone in front of her." She leaned her head in her hand and looked at Ava "About Jonah's parents; shouldn't you get a lawyer?"

"Are you kidding me? I can't afford a lawyer."

"Darlin', this club is your family."

Ava was in the middle of a yawn and started laughing. "Was that supposed to be an impression of Gemma or is she just rubbing off on you?"

"Oh God! I heard it myself, I hoped you wouldn't notice." Tara shook her head. "Anyway, not saying they'd pay for anyone's lawyer, but the'll want to make sure Grace stays here."

"She will. I'm not worried. I've been trying to explain to everyone that I've prepared for this."

"Ok. You should still have a lawyer with you when you meet them. Cause they will."

She had to admit that Tara was right, they were going to lawyer up, so she should probably do that as well. There was a small problem with paying the lawyer though. She thought about it for a while and finally remembered what Happy had said.

"Fine! I'll talk to Piney tomorrow."

"I should get home."

"You should do this more often. Or I can come and see you."

"We really should. There's just so much testosterone flying around the others, including Gemma." That comment made Ava laugh. "We need girl-time as well."

They hugged each other and then she was alone. She cleared the kitchen, did the dishes and crawled into bed. It was huge. It took her a while but she finally fell asleep.

-o0o-

Ava was standing at the police station, waiting for Tig. Tara had called and asked for her help.

"Awh, Ava. Thanks." He said and gave her a hug when he saw her.

"Not a problem. I'm taking some personal days so I've got nothing better to do than bailing your ass out of jail."

"Might not be the last time you bail one of us out." He said and put his arm around her shoulder and started to walk outside to the reception. "How did you get the money?"

"Had to work on my knees at the trucker café all night."

"Not sure Hap would like that." He said and then he laughed. "Seriously, you used to blush when someone mentioned sex and now you're making joked about it. What's the old man doin' to ya?"

"All of it" She smiled and then realized that Unser was watching them with a displeased face. "Seriously though, I got the money from Tara, she had to work so she sent me instead."

"Aww, you girls are the best." Tig smiled and put his arm around her shoulders.

"You're going to have to get someone else to pick up that towtruck at the impound."

"What?" Tig exclaimed.

"You're license had been suspended for two years."

Ava lost focus for a second after that since she noticed Stahl leaving the office, smirking at her.

"Any chance you can give me a lift?" Tig asked a few seconds later, he seemed upset and she assumed that it was because of the license. She didn't know exactly what it was about but she knew it had something to do with Gemma escaping.

"Sure. I'll call Piney about the truck."

She hadn't been surprised about Gemma's escape, that women would do what was needed to get Abel back. Ava couldn't blame her, if someone took Grace, there was no way in hell she'd sit back and let someone else take care of it.

"Tow-truck."

She moved her focus from Stahl and her thoughts about loosing Grace, back to Tig. "What?"

"Nothin'." He said and Ava picked up her phone. She talked to Piney and he told her to keep Tig company and that he'd pick him up in a while.

"Change of plans." She said to Tig. "I'm keeping you company until Piney gets here. I hope you have smokes cause I'm all out."

They sat down outside and he handed her a cigarette.

"How's Sunshine?"

"In New York. Talked to her earlier and she's doing fine." She looked at him. "Got some friends already, some guy named Waldo."

"The Prez. He's a good guy." Tig nodded. "Heard anything from the grandparents?"

"Yeah, meeting them and their lawyer tomorrow."

"Who's your lawyer?"

"I don't have one." She inhaled deeply and she felt Tig looking at her. "I'll talk to Piney later."

"You fucking do that. We're not going to send you in there without a lawyer."

"I'm not doing any talking tomorrow. Just listening."

"Should still have a lawyer and we're getting you one."

"I know. I'll talk to Piney." She patted his hand. "Tara has already been on me about this. And like I told her; I'm prepared for this."

Tig drilled his blue eyes into her and for a second she thought of Jonah but shoved the thought aside. Just then the truck with Kozic pulled up and she could see Tig's expression change.

"Great." He said and got up.

"I'll come by later to talk to Piney."

"Thanks again, darlin'."

"No problem."

He started to walk towards the truck and suddenly he turned around. "Hey, Ava!"

"Yeah?"

He almost ran towards her. "I just need to make sure and don't you fucking lie to me; are you running?"

"What?"

"That's what you usually do and if Hap asks me later I wanna be able to tell him that I at least fucking asked you about it." He looked pissed.

"No! No, I'm not running." He stared at her for a few seconds. "Tig, I'm not running. I promise. And he already asked me about it."

"Good."

"I'm not running from him. I would never do that. I know that you could help me if I needed it, it's just that I've planned for this and you're occupied with Abel, you need to stay focused on that. He's much more important right now."

"Ok, I believe you." He started walking towards the tow-truck again. "I'll see you later."

-o0o-

A few hours later she came to the garage just in time to see Tig and Kozic having a fight. She went over to the office and saw Chucky and Tara, still in her work clothes, watching the two of them go at it.

"Hey, have you seen Piney?"

They pointed towards the clubhouse and she went inside.

"How are you doing?" Piney said when he saw her.

"All good." She sat down and he poured her a cup of coffee. "Not sure your attempts on making those two friends is going to well." She was referring to Tig and Kozic.

"They just need to get it out of their system." He said and poured some tequila into his coffee and when he waved the bottle in her direction with a questioning face she shook her head.

"I need to talk to you about this thing with Jonah's parents."

Piney nodded. "Happy mentioned that."

"I'm meeting them tomorrow and they'll probably have a fanchy smanchy lawyer."

"You should probably have one too. I'll sort that out for you."

"Thing is..." she sighed, she was going to have to fill him in. "I'm not sure exactly what they're after. They probably want Grace to be able to show off their amazing little family in political campaigns."

Piney laughed. "Wonder how Happy fits into that?"

"Or me, they hate my guts. So that's probably not all." She looked into her cup. "I think they want to know what happened to Jonah. And I think they might try to take custody of Grace completely."

"Can they do that?"

"Even if they can't get her for themselves they could raise questions about my abilities to take care of her if they try" She sighed.

"That would be bullshit." He said and took her hand.

"I know. I've been reviewed before. It's just; I don't want to deal with all this shit at all. I never wanted to." She squeezed his hand before letting go and took a sip of the coffee. It wasn't as good as when Bobby had done it. "It used to be since I didn't want to be stuck in a town and his parents knowing where. Now I just want to be rid of them, I want all of that behind me."

"Sounds reasonable." Piney nodded. "What's the plan?"

"I want to hear them out tomorrow. What they have planed, they'll tell me more that they should, Mary's a moron and she can never keep her mouth shut."

"Then?"

"I have... evidence, in a safety deposit box in New York."

"Evidence?"

"Of everything, signed testimonies, pictures, all that shit. I'll go there and pick it up."

Piney nodded. "Will that help you? What their kid did to you."

"Trust me, It'll help." She emptied the cup. "So, I don't want you to pay for a lawyer that I don't need tomorrow. I'm just hearing them out."

"You're not going there alone. I'll explain to her that she just has to sit there and listen, that nothing of importance will be said and that she doesn't need to prepare in any special way." He emptied his cup as well and then he took out the bottle and drank directly from it. He was referring to the lawyer as 'she', so he probably had someone in mind. "We'll take care of you, love."

"Thank you. I need to get going." She got up. "Thanks for the coffee."

"No worries, not half as good as when Bobby does it, even with Tequila in it."

"Don't know about the tequila but I agree to the rest of your statement."

She got out just in time to see Lyla get into her car and she walked up to Tara.

"Any chance you can keep me company tonight as well?"

"Sure." Tara smiled. "Should I bring some needle-work?"

Ava laughed. "No, but if there's any chance we can be at your place and I could borrow your washing machine I'd be a happy girl."

"Ah, wash date." Tara nodded. "I'll call you later."

-o0o-

Happy was watching Jax getting ready for a fight with O'Neil and he noticed Clay waving at him so he walked over to see what he wanted.

"Got a message to you, from Piney."

"Ok."

"Told me to tell you that you're Old Lady is all over this shit and you've got nothing to worry about."

"Thanks."

"Got a lawyer for the meet tomorrow."

"Good. Thanks Prez."

"She's family, we take care of our family." Clay gave him a hug.

A few minutes later he noticed Clay slipping away with Gemma and then the fight started.

When they played poker a couple of hours later, just the SAMCRO-guys, Clay was definitely in a better mood.

Between the deals he sent a text to Ava, 'Think of me when you cum'. He felt the phone vibrate a few seconds later and he flipped it open. _'Already did.'_

He laughed.

"What?" Ope asked.

"Nothin'."

"Crazy chick?" Juice smiled.

"Keeping my mood up." He answered.

"Ohhh, is she sendin' you dirty messages?" Chibs said. "Nice touch. Any news on the Sunshine-situation."

"According to Piney, she's all over it. Got it all figured out. And according to Tig it doesn't include running." Clay said.

Happy looked up at Clay with and smiled. "I know she's not running." He wasn't worried about that at all.

Jax got back with the news that The Army wanted Jimmy in return for Abel. Completely fucked up people and Happy thought when he went to bed. It all felt fucked up to him. First people were targeting their women and now they were after their kids. At least it couldn't get much worse.


	24. Most girls have smooth backs

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters._

_As an attempt to apologies for leaving you hanging for two weeks. Here's another chapter and it's the long one. The longest one so far. I'm going on holiday so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again but hopefully it won't take that long.  
_

_As always, your reviews, favs and alerts makes me so, so happy. An extra thank you to the guest reviewers since I can't thank you in person. That you take time to review my story means the world to me._

* * *

**Chapter 24: Most girls have smooth backs**

Piney called her in the morning.

"_Can you get to the clubhouse in an hour?"_

"Sure."

She hung up and dragged her ass out of bed. She had gotten more used to sleeping next to Happy than she had thought and had woken up several times during the night when she couldn't find him while searching for him in her sleep.

She searched the paperbags in the hallway to find some clean clothes. The wash date with Tara had gone on until late in the night so by the time she got home she just dropped the bags in the hallway and went to sleep. She would sort it all later that day. Some of it hadn't been dry by the time she went home and she was going by the hospital later to pick it up from Tara later that day.

About an hour later she was at the clubhouse. She found Piney at the bar and a quite stunning woman was standing next to him. Ava was admiring her dress when Piney turned around.

"There you are."

"Hey, Piney. What's going on?"

"This is Ally Lowen, she's going to tag along when you're meeting the Richardsons."

She shook hands with the woman. "So you're the lawyer?"

"Yes. I work with Rosen."

"I met him a while back. Regarding the bail and... that.. thing."

"The thing." Ally smiled. "Still working on that." Her smile was nice but it was fairly easy to see that this was the kind of woman who ate insecure people for breakfast. She was like a battering ram in a very nice dress and shoes that Ava would, maybe not kill but at least bitch slap, someone for.

Ava sat down next to her and took the coffee Miles was offering her. Piney waved at him and he took off. Apparently he didn't think that this was anyone else business and Ava was quite touch by his thoughtfulness.

"According to Piney all I have to do today is to follow you there and listen what they have to say. Is that correct?" Ally asked.

"Yes." Ava nodded. "I just want to hear what there angle is on this, when I know that I know what to do."

"Sometimes it's better to strike first." Ally said.

"Not in this case. I need to know where they're coming from to know how to strike back." She looked at Ally's firm face. "I need to go to New York before I can do that as well. I need a couple of days for that."

"Why would they want visitation rights?"

"Not sure, that's one of the things I need to find out. I am however sure that whatever lawyer they have has told them they won't be able to get that." Ava sat down and they others followed.

"They won't?" Piney said and pulled out his Tequila.

"No. That's one of the reasons I chose to move to California. They must prove that they've had a pre-existing relationship with Grace."

"And they don't." That wasn't a question from Piney.

"She wouldn't be able to recognize them even if she sat in their lap." Ava explained to Ally.

"What would be their next move?" It was still Piney asking the questions.

"Custody. But even if the court would rule me as an unfit parent I doubt that they'd get custody of Grace."

"Once again since she doesn't know them." Ally nodded in agreement. "That would probably be what their lawyer would tell them. So what do you think they're doing?"

"They might think they can scare me into agreeing to whatever it is they want by showing up with a fancy lawyer. They would assume that I can't afford one. They also think I'm stupid." Ava was drawing patterns on the table with her fingertips. She finally looked up at Piney. "They probably want to know where Jonah is."

"Do you know where he is?" Ally asked and Piney took a sip from the bottle with his eyes on the door and Ava turned her head to Ally.

"No."

"We will see what they want later today. At four?" Ava nodded absently at Ally's question while looking at Piney again. She hadn't know for sure if Piney had been there when Happy killed Jonah, she did now. "I'll see you there and then you're going to tell me how to bring them down. I'm not a fan of working blind but we don't have time to settle all this now. Gemma left a mess and I need to try to handle that as well."

"I will explain everything, you just need to be there today." She got up and shook Ally's hand, then she watched her leave.

"If it's Jonah they're after they won't stop." Piney said and took another sip of his bottle. Ava wondered if he ever stopped drinking or if it was only different amounts everyday. "No one stops looking for their kids."

"You're assuming that they give a shit." Ava sat down in front of him again.

"They wouldn't be here if they weren't."

"They wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the fact that they _should_ look for him."

"I don't understand." He said and glared at her.

"Jonah was the prince. The one who was going to take over after his dad, carry on the family name and all that. A junkie wasn't in their plans." She explained. "They blame me, and above all Clark for what he was."

"Why?"

"They think it was Clark who introduced him to drugs. It wasn't, they found each other and had a mutual interest."

"He was Clark's friend?"

"Yes." She looked at Piney with a serious face. "It wasn't his fault so don't you dare blame him."

"I don't. But I'm guessing that Hap does."

"Probably." It was hard to miss the tense jaws Happy got everytime Clark was mentioned. "They kept Jonah out of the spotlight as much as possible. As far as I know it has never been mentioned in the press that the high and mighty Richardsons has a drug addict son. But they would probably notice if he disappears completely."

"So they need to play the concerned parents and try to find him."

"Yes." She felt like an ass when she had said it. "They might care. But I don't like them and I can't help thinking that this is an easy way for them to score points in the publics eyes."

"How long would it take before the press finds the rest of the shit. About you and Jonah having a daughter."

"The records are sealed. Jonah had enough connections to ensure that. For the first time I'm quite happy about that."

"And Grace?"

"He never signed the papers." She said with a smile and Piney smiled as well.

"And you didn't press him for it."

"No. As far as I was concerned it was better that way. He would have to jump through some extra hoops to file for custody. Which he never did."

"He didn't think she was his." That wasn't a question either and she looked at him. He took another sip of the bottle. "He said that to Happy." She just nodded. She almost asked and he noticed it and shook his head. "You don't want to know."

"You're probably right." She looked down at the table and took a deep breath.

"Hey!" Piney said and took his hand. "He got away cheap, no matter what happened."

"Ok. Thank you. For everything."

"You're family, we help family."

"Even so." She gave him a hug. "I need to get going."

"Let me know what happens so I can tell Clay and the others when I talk to them. They're worried. Especially Gemma."

"I will. I'll call you later."

"Kiddo, you do sound like you've got all this under control, but don't get to comfortable. You might miss what they have behind their back."

"I know, Piney. That's why I agreed to this meeting. I'm pretty sure that I know what they're up to, but I want to see what's behind their back."

"Good girl." He said and gave her another hug.

-o0o-

Tara was in her office and had a panic look on her face when Ava came inside.

"I don't know what to do."

"About what?"

She didn't say anything and just absently pointed at her stomach. Ava sat down. Tara had told her that she had an appointment for an abortion that afternoon.

"I can't tell you what to do. You have to decide that yourself and you know that."

"How do I know what's right?"

"I don't know. I've never been in your situation."

Tara had a surprised look and then smiled. "It was never hard for you?"

"No, the pregnancy woke me up, gave me strength. I would never had gotten rid of that."

"You make me sound like a coward for even considering it."

"You can't compare the two of us. It's two different pregnancies."

"If I forced you to advise me?"

"Are you going to pull out your gun now?" Ava smiled and then pulled her hair back. "I would tell you that you still have time, if you're not sure now there's no need to take a hasty decision."

"Gemma knows, she'll use the knowledge if she needs to and she could tell Jax, if he knows he would never let me do what I want."

"If you do this now, would it be because it's what you thinks is right or because you want to hurt Jax back?"

"It's not to hurt Jax."

"It sounds like you're sure."

"I want kids, I just want it to be with the right guy. Someone who'll be there. I know this is a horrible thing to say to you..."

"It's not Tara. It really isn't." Ava got up and put her arm around Tara. "Like I said, there's never two people in the same situation. You should do what feels right. Let me know if you need a ride or anything."

"Thanks. When's the meeting with the dragons?"

"Four."

"Are you going to go dressed like that?"

Ava looked down on her jeans, tank top and cardigan. "Oh yes. I'd like to get their hopes up before crushing them."

"Oh, you are most definitely a Gemma in the making. 'Crushing them'." She gave Tara a hug. "Go get them, girl. And call me when you're done there."

"And you call me when you get home, or if you want a ride."

"I will."

She looked Tara into the eyes and then she gave her another hug before leaving.

-o0o-

Happy was standing outside a barn on the Irish country side, watching O'Neill walk away to 'murder a shite'. He had the distinct feeling that things were fucked up but he couldn't put his finger on it. Most of it was so fucked up it was hard to see the forrest for all the trees.

A few seconds later he heard screams behind him and saw the small kids putting a chain and lock on the doors. He took of with Juice to follow the kids for a few steps until he realized that they were not what was important at this moment. They had locked the others in for a reason and they needed to get them the fuck out of there.

Juice pulled out his gun to shoot off the chain when Happy heard a motor running on the other side of the door. He started running to the side and pulled Juice with him. The blast came just after that and it knocked him to the ground.

Funny thing was, he heard Ava's voice, just like it sounded when she mumbled in his ear in bed at night. It wasn't words, she was just chuckling in her teasing way and he shook his head to see and tried to get up. Opie was standing not far away and pulled something from the side of his stomach. Happy tried to feel something but besides the ringing in his ears, that had taken the place of Ava's laughter. There was a slight pain in his entire body, as if he had soreness from training. But no sharp pains, he ran his hands over his body and couldn't find any blood.

He got up and looked around. It was a fucking battlefield, burning stuff, blood and dead bodies. Chibs was sitting on the ground with that kid in his arms.

The fucking Belfast Prez and Sergant-At-Arms came walking and dared to fucking claim that it wasn't sure that it was Jimmy who blew up that truck. They had said it themselves earlier; The kid's were Jimmy's recruits and they locked the door to the barn. O'Neill had taken the perfect time to take a shit. McGee had been in the barn with the others, and no-one was stupid enough to blow themselves up. If he had known he had been outside with them.

They had a huge problem and he was pretty sure that all the SAMCRO boys knew it. They had no-one to trust and it was just pure fucking luck that the majority of the charter didn't die in that barn. Everyone, including him was in a state of confusion and slight panic. But as usual; Bobby was on top of things and calm.

"The explosion was seen for miles, we've gotta get out of here, now." He said. That pulled them all out of the shock.

He was right, this wasn't the time or the place and they all knew it once he had said it.

-o0o-

Later that evening Chibs and him walked into the living room after making sure that Fiona and Kerianne were ok.

The other's wanted him to send Fiona and Kerianne to the States. Happy could see the others point, that Chibs should get his family out of there, that he should keep them safe and take them back to Charming.

At the same time, he wasn't surprised when Chibs disagreed.

"The only way that I can keep my baby safe, is when that bastard O'Fallon is dead. And I guarantee ya' I am going to make that happen."

Happy could relate to that. They shouldn't have to run, just like Ava and Grace shouldn't have been forced to run. The only way to keep them safe was to kill Jimmy and he would do whatever it took to help Chibs with that. Just as Chibs had helped him with Ava.

He went outside, lit a smoke and called Ava.

"Babe, how did it go?"

"_Are you seriously calling me from Ireland?"_ She laughed.

"Sure. How did it go?"

"_I haven't been yet, it's just one 'o clock here."_

"Miss me?"

"_Yes, miss both of you like crazy. How's Ireland?"_

"Explosive." He said after exhaling the smoke.

"_Not sure I want to know what that means."_

"I'm fine, we're all fine. I'll tell you when I get home."

She was silent for a second. _"Can I ask you something?"_

He laughed at how much she sounded like her daughter just then. "You can ask." He figured it would be about other women, or how they were doing or pretty much anything he didn't want to take over the phone.

She was silent for a while. _"Know what, just forget it."_

"No. Ask me."

"_No, it was about Jonah, but I think Piney might be right."_

"What did Piney say?"

"_That I don't want to know. And I don't, and I want to be able to tell others that I honeslty don't know."_

"Piney's right." He really liked Piney. "Is he helping you?"

"_Yes, he's great. Don't worry about anything."_

"Are you behaving or am I going to have to kill some guy so I'm the only living guy who's had you."

"_I'm behaving and I'm practicing."_

"Good girl."

"_Piney said that to, not about the same thing but just pointing out that it's the second time someone's said that to me today." _She laughed and Happy felt the first smile on his face that day._"Are you practicing or do I have to go to Ireland and beat some bitch into a pulp."_

He laughed. "You know these Irish bitches, they don't have tits as great as yours, I can't understand a word they're saying and all have smooth backs."

"_Most girls have smooth backs, Happy."_

"You don't."

"_I love you too."_

"Didn't say anything about that."

"_Are you saying you don't?" _He knew exactly what she looked like when she said that, her pretend horror face and he laughed again. The shit day was starting to fall off him, just from talking to her.

"Ain't telling you shit." He said. "Kick their ass later."

"_You know it. You too."_

"You know it, babe." He hung up.

He noticed Gemma, looking at Jax and that blond Irish girl, Trinity, Maureens daughter. She turned around and saw him.

"Talking to Ava?"

"Yeah?"

"How did it go?"

"Hasn't been yet."

Gemma nodded. "She knows what she's doing."

"I know." He looked at Gemma. "I'm not worried."

"Good." She came up to him and put her arm around his waist. "Those girls aren't going anywhere and those grandparents aren't going to see our princess."

"Princess?" He looked at Gemma.

"Ask anyone." She looked up at him. "I wouldn't order a pink SOA t-shirt for just anyone."

"You ordered it?"

"Not yet. But I'm gonna."

Later, when he went to bed and the place was quiet he noticed that his ears were still ringing. It was fucking annoying and he hoped that it wasn't some permanent shit.

-o0o-

Ally was sitting next to her and was tapping her foot impatiantly. They were in a fancy meeting room at a law firm and the lawyer and Richardsons were late.

"I should charge them for this." Ally muttered.

"They got the money to pay for it." Ava said and looked down and noticed some spots on her cardigan. That made her smile, it would drive Mary insane, she wished that she had done it on purpose.

They finally came inside and she didn't get up, she hardly bothered to look at them and didn't shake the lawyers hand. She knew she was being rude and it was the point. The ruder she was the more pissed Mary would get. And the more pissed she was the more she would reveal.

When the lawyer noticed Ally he froze up. "I had not been informed that you had a lawyer." He said to Ava and she shrugged.

"There was no need to inform you. I was under the impression that this was just an informal meeting." Ally said and Ava stole a glance of Mary and Eric. They hadn't been prepared for that. Maybe a lawyer had been a better idea than she had thought.

"Yes, of course." They sat down on the other side of the table. The lawyer continued. "Eric and Mary Richardson want visitation rights with Grace Sanders at least four days a mont and four weeks during the summer and finally five days during christmas."

Both Ava and Ally just looked at the lawyer. Ava was very pleased with Ally, she had obviously paid attention to her instructions while they were waiting for them.

When they didn't say anything the lawyer cleared his throat. "If you agree to this I have a paper for you to sign."

"I don't." Ava said. "If that's all you had to say..." She looked at Ally and pointed at the door. "...I guess we could leave then?" Ally nodded and they started to get up.

"It wasn't." Eric said. "Sit down, Ava."

She looked at him, back at Ally and shrugged and they sat back down.

"The court can give them visitation rights and they can order more extensive rights than the one we asked for." When he said that he looked at Ally. He had obviously hoped that it would scare Ava and that she would agree because of that. But with Ally in the room he knew that she knew the law.

None of them said anything yet. Mary was starting to turn in her chair. "We could sue for custody as well, considering the biker trash you're hanging out with I'm sure that wouldn't be an issue. The court would understand."

Ava looked at Eric and decided that it was time to start provoking them. "All this just so you can show a happy family to your voters." He looked away.

"You took our son!" Mary had reached her high pitched voice. "You and your brother destroyed him."

"I didn't take him. I did my very best to stay the _fuck_ away from him." Mary hated the word 'fuck', and sure enough that sent her over the edge.

"You lying piece of white trash!" Eric grabbed her arm to make her shut up.

"I think this meeting is over. We were hoping to find a quick resolution in everyones best interest." Their lawyer started to put his papers together while he was talking. Ava's guess was that Eric had warned him about Mary and her temper.

Ally cleared her throat. "We will contact you in a couple of days when we are ready to present our case. Would you like to present yours now?"

"No." Eric said and the three of them left the room.

Ally turned and looked at her. "You were like a teenage child."

"I know, just wished I'd had a chewing gum."

"You better have something good on this." Ally said.

"Do you know the origin of the word 'draconian'?" Ava was still sitting down, watching the door.

"No."

"It's from 'Draco' the first legislator of Athens. Before him the laws were not written down but around 620 B.C. He took over. And he was tough, even smaller offenses was punishable by death. And if you owed money to someone above you own status you were forced into slavery."

"Interesting." Ally said. "And the point of this speech?"

"Just trying to remind myself that I need to be unforgiving and not weak." Ava said more to herself that to Ally. "And that owing a debt to someone might put you into slavery."

"So, with all that in mind. Do you have something good on this?"

"I do." She was still looking at the door but when she turned she saw Ally's face. "Listen, I was hidden by the government because they found that Jonah was a threat against mine and Grace's safety and life. I still am. I have all that paper work. I've had massive injury to my back, all of it documented and if there's any questioning about that I can simply show my back. It's bad."

"How bad?"

"Really bad." Ally nodded and Ava continued. "I have a huge file and I'm going to get it for you so you have time to go through it. I even have a signed statement from a judge in San Fransisco that Mary yelled at me before, during and after a trial when Jonah was accused of rape and assault."

"Jesus Christ, that women really is stupid."

"The Judge removed her from the court room and was so appalled that he happily signed a testimony. He even promised to testify in my behalf if it would ever be needed." Ava added. "Still worried?"

"No." Ally smiled. "I'm kind of looking forward to this."

"I haven't even told you the best part yet."

"Oh, I like you." Ally was positively glowing. "I like these kind of cases. Tell me the best part."

"Nope, gonna give you something to look forward to." Ava took her bag. "They're going to pull me to the side when I come out. Let them."

Ava had been right, Eric and Mary was waiting for her and she followed them to an empty office. Eric was doing the talking, he had probably told Mary to shut her mouth.

"If you give us limited visitation rights, four days every second month and two weeks during the summer, and tell us where Jonah is, that'll be all." He had a begging look on his face. "It's best for all of us, we don't want Grace in court anymore than you do."

"If I say yes with the exception that I don't know where Jonah is and the addition that you can't have Grace in public, no PR whatsoever, would you agree to that?" She wasn't tempted, not for a seconds. She just wanted to see how he would react to that.

The problem for them seemed to be that they wanted two different things. Mary wanted to mess with Ava, get even, take her daughter just as she thought Ava had taken Jonah. Eric wanted the PR of being a grandfather. He might actually also want to have a relationship with his granddaughter.

"I can't guarantee that no-one would ever take any pictures." Eric said with a defensive tone.

"Didn't think so." Ava smiled. "And I'm not worried, this isn't going to court."

Mary looked like she was about to explode, and she obviously couldn't help herself. "Just tell us!"

Ava pointed at Eric and looked at Mary. "Didn't he tell you to shut your mouth?" She turned around and walked outside to the waiting Ally.

"What now?" Ally asked while putting her briefcase in her backseat.

"I'm going to New York. I'll call you when I get back."

"You do that."

-o0o-

She knew it was the middle of the night on Ireland, or possibly early morning but she wanted a quick word with Happy.

"_What!"_ She had heard him answer the phone like that hundreds of times and she smiled.

"Hope I'm not interrupting your moment with a bitch and her smooth back."

"_Nah, already sent her out."_

Ava laughed. "Just wanted to call you and tell you that it went well."

"_They're not suing?"_

"They think they are, but I meant that I found out what I wanted to know. So I'm going to New York tomorrow."

"_You need to bring someone."_

"What?"

"_You're not going alone, not with all this shit. So bring someone, Tig or Kozic. Preferrebly not Kozic."_

"Why not him?"

"_He thinks you're hot."_

"Really?"

"_Don't get any ideas."_

Ava laughed and then she thought about it for a while. "They're already short on bodies here, Happy. Can't I take Big Al, or Sisco?"

He was quiet for a while. _"Do I need to worry?"_

"No, it just happened to be the only SOA-guys who are not from Charming that I even remotely know."

"_Ok. I'll call Piney and set it up. Go see him in the morning and he'll let you know."_

"Go back to sleep. I'm gonna go practice now."

"_Any chance you can do it while I'm listening?"_

"No. Go back to sleep."

He laughed. _"Keep that pussy wet for me, babe."_

"I miss you."

"_I know. Keep me informed."_

"I will. Good night."

"_Sleep tight, babe."_

-o0o-

She packed her suitcase in the morning and made sure that everything that should be turned off was before she left the apartment and locked the door.

As she walked into the clubhouse Piney, Tig and Kozic came out of the Chapel

"Have you heard from Tara? She was going to call me yesterday but never did. Just want to tell her what happened yesterday."

They looked at each other and finally Piney sighed. "Tara's been kidnapped."

Ava sat down on the closest chair. "Kidnapped?" She took a deep breath. "I thought..."

Tig turned around and looked at her. "What did you think?"

"I called her and she never called back. I thought... I doesn't matter." She'd thought that she had just turned off the phone so she could sleep after the abortion.

"What did you think?" Tig had a very serious face.

"That she just needed to sleep. It's been a lot for her lately." She looked at Piney. "With Ima and shit."

"Happy called me yesterday and Big Al will be here any minute. We have to go."

"I know." She took a deep breath. "I feel like shit leaving you with all this..."

"You take care of your girl and we'll take care of Tara. Ok?" Piney said.

"You can't tell Hap about this yet. Were not going to mention it to Jax." Tig added.

"You'r not?"

"He's got enough as it is."

"Fine. I won't tell Hap, but he better not give me shit for it."

"He won't. If it comes to that I'll explain to him." Tig said. "Go get our girl." He said and gave her a hug.

"You go get Tara."

She sat down and waited and Chucky gave her coffee.

"That book you read to the kids?"

"Yes?"

"What was it?"

"Goodnight Mr. Tom."

"It was good." He said and then looked embarrassed. "I know it's a book for kids..."

"I love it." Ava said. "It's a beautiful book. Even if you're not a kid."

"Am I catching you in the process of flirting with another man?" Big Al bellowed. "What would Hap say?"

She laughed and got up to. "So, you ready to go to New York?"

"Absolutely!" He said and picked up her bag. "Looking forward to it, haven't been in a while."

"I'm sorry to keep you from your family."

"This is my family as well, they know that."

They drove to Oakland airport. While waiting Ava had a coffee and Al had a beer.

"How are your kids?"

"All good." He smiled. "Skip's had his birthday a couple of weeks ago."

"His twelfth?"

"No, eleventh."

"Oh, I thought you said..."

"Yeah, but he was almost eleven." Al was still smiling. "I need some time to get adjusted to their age. They grow up so fast so I start saying they're a year older a couple of months ahead. Keeps me sane."

"I think I'm going to try that. I can't believe Grace is six." She laughed.

"You can't have been old when you had her."

"No. I turned twenty-two a while before I had her."

"You remind me of my wife."

"Was she young when she had... Marcus, wasn't it?"

"Yes, Marcus." He nodded. "She was 25, but that's not why. She'd do anything for those boys. So would I, but she's got that tigress look when something's threatening them." He pointed at her with the hand holding the glass. "You've got that now."

Ava stared at him and then started to laugh. "Good. I need it."

-o0o-

Happy was lying on his bed. They had caught O'Neill and he had watched a pro torture him. He knew that they others was bothered but Happy was mostly impressed with the lever of pain he managed to inflict without O'Neill passing out. He had learned a lot from watching that.

He was and he picked up the phone to call Ava. She answered the phone and he could hear that she was in the middle of a laugh.

"What's going on?"

"_I'm a the airport. We're on our way to the flight."_

"How's Big Al?"

"_All good."_

"Talked to Grace earlier."

"_What? She didn't call me."_

"She called me to tell me that our club was better than the New York one." Ava laughed and it hit Happy how fucking much he missed her. "Take care of her."

"_You know I will. How's Ireland."_

"Fucking sucks. I'm done with Ireland, I can tell you that much."

"_Good, was worried you'd want to stay there."_

"No fucking way." He laughed. "Do you miss me?"

"Yes. I do." She was mumbling.

"Tell Big Al that he'd better keep you two safe, or I'll kick his fucking ass when I get back."

"_No, I'm not going to do that."_

"Then put him on the phone."

Ava was quiet for a while. Then she spoke very silently. _"No! He's been kind enough to come with me so I'm not going to let you be rude to him."_

That made Happy laugh. "I'll get you for that. Defying me."

"_I'm sure you will. I'll talk to you soon."_

"Yeah. Babe, think about me."

"_You know I do."_ Then she hung up.

-o0o-

Later that night, Ava was sitting in another Clubhouse with Grace in her lap and Clark at her side. They had been asked to stay at the clubhouse instead of Clark's house. She had tried to convince them that this was all an overreaction from Happy's side and that there wasn't much of a risk.

Waldo had laughed. "Honey, If you got hit by a car, lightning or just a randomly falling coconut, Happy would consider it our fucking fault that we weren't there to push you out of the way. You're not leaving our sight."

So now she was in a sofa, Big Al was next to her and was talking to Grace about Tiny and Skip.

"I gave Happy a picture of me and mom, so he could have it in his cut, like you do."

Ava looked at her. "You did?"

"Yes, before he left." Grace nodded, then she looked down at Big Al's picture. "I thought he should have one."

"That's good, Sunshine. He should have a picture of you with him at all times." Al said.

The morning after Al followed her to the bank. He waited outside and when she came out he smiled at her.

"All done?"

She nodded, when they started to walk towards Al's bike, she felt dizzy, her mind was racing and all she could think about was what she was holding against her chest. What the file's content was.

Al stopped and looked at her. "Come on." He said and sat her down at a bench. "Don't move."

He came back a few minutes later and handed her a coke then sat down next to her. He handed her a cigarette and she took it.

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head, that it was nothing. "Did you know that they're planning on building an underground garden in an old trolley terminal here in New York?"

"No. I didn't."

"Below Delancy street on Lower East Side." He nodded. It sounded amazing, she really hoped that they did build it.

"How do you know?"

"Linda, my wife, read it somewhere. She always tells me stuff like that." He looked at her again. "Wanna tell me what's in those papers that you are hugging harder than you hugged Grace yesterday." Ava looked at him and was suddenly very insecure. "I'm guessing it has something to do with why Happy wanted me to go with you. And why you sent Grace away."

She smiled into the ground and then looked up at him again. "You're all a lot smarter than I give you credit for."

"Not all of us." He said and waved with his eyebrows. "I'm a smart motherfucker though."

"Grace's father... was abusive. I left him when I got pregnant." She realized that it had never been easier to say it to anyone than it was this time. It didn't have anything to do with Al, even if he was a nice man. It was because it was behind her now, a finished chapter. Even Jonah's parents showing up couldn't change that. "His parents showed up earlier this week. They claim that they want visitation rights with Grace. They threaten to sue for custody if I don't agree."

"Where's Jonah?" Al was leaning his elbows on the backrest and was looking on a park on the other side of the street.

"I don't know."

"How many times has he found you?"

"Many. I'm protected by the government to some degree. I have most of it on record. I stopped filing charges about three years ago and I only tried to testify once." She was dreading the question she knew would come.

"Did he come to Charming?"

"Yes."

She took a deep breath and then she managed to look at him. He smiled and nodded but he didn't ask anything. He understood. Or knew, she wondered if Happy or Piney had said something.

"So what are those papers?"

"I kept records of everything. This is all of it. Pictures, testimonies, police investigations and pretty much anything that I thought worth saving."

Al leaned forward and leaned his elbows on his knees. "My dad used to beat up my mom."

She wasn't sure what to say. "I'm sorry."

"As soon as I turned 17 I joined the army. My mom signed the consent form." He finally looked at her. "I felt like a coward but I didn't know what I could do. I felt like an ass for leaving her behind but I guess I hoped that she would leave him when I wasn't holding her back."

"She signed those forms because she wanted you out of the way, to be safe." Ava said. "Or at least that would've been why I did it. Must have been bad if she thought the army would be safer than your home."

He nodded. "Six months later, he beat her to death. I guess that me not being there meant there was nothing to hold him back.

"Or she knew it was coming and didn't want you to be there and see it."

Al looked at her. "I never thought of it that way. Thank you." He threw his empty coke-bottle into the trash. "When he woke up from the drunken fog and realized what he had done he shot himself."

Ava took his hand, "I'm really, really sorry."

"I've never, once, laid a hand on a woman or my boys."

"I have no doubt."

"My point is, no matter what Grace has seen and even if it'll never completely leave her, she'll be fine. She could have a good life and you're a good role model. Judging from what she is like now, she'll grow up to be an amazing woman."

"Thank you." She squeezed his hand. "That warms my heart."

"I'm glad I could help you and come here with you, even if it's a small part in it." Ava smiled at him and then she thought about the entire situation. "What?"

"Just. Everyone is so nice, helpful and concerned. It's strange."

"Well, we did get the mail."

"Mail?"

"That you were family and we should all take care of you like you're family."

"Even so."

He gave her a strange look. "What do you know about Happy?"

She go uncertain when he said that. "Well, do you mean about... his role in the club."

"Yes. He's called The Tacoma Killer. He's... a scary guy." Al noticed her face and put a hand on her. "I like him, consider him a friend, and most of us do. But him having an Old Lady was, a surprise. An Old Lady with a kid even more surprising and seeing him with the two of you." He shook his head. "He loves this club, he'd do anything for it, he's all in. We know what that means and how far he would go for us. He'd go that far for you too. We all know it and we all owe him, one way or another. We also know that he'd kill us if we fucked up and you got hurt."

She stared at him for a while and she felt her throat choking and she swallowed. "He's done a lot for me all ready."

"I'm sure." He lit another cigarette. "I wouldn't worry about a thing if I was you. I'd be slightly worried if I was Grace."

"Yeah. I've thought about that as well." Ava laughed. Grace would be safe and he'd always be nice to her. He would probably be extremely overprotective though. The teenage Grace would probably go insane.

-o0o-

The spent the afternoon with Clark and Grace. Al was with them the entire time. In the beginning of the day he tried to keep his distance, to give them space but that wasn't something that Grace would allow. She kept running up to him, take his hand and literally drag him into the conversations. Finally he gave up and joined them. None of them minded. That night she and Al went back to Charming. Grace was fine with it, said she wanted some more time with Clark, Waldo, Eddie, Randell and the other members.

Piney met them at the clubhouse. "All good?"

"Yes. Grace sends her love."

She stood next to Al as he packed his bike.

"Thanks for this." Piney said and gave him a hug, smacking the leather on his back.

"No worries. Sure you don't want me to stick around until you've solved the other shit?" Al was referring to Tara.

"Nah, go home to your family."

Ava walked up to him, standing quite close. "Thank you, for everything, not just following me but... sharing."

"Had to return the favor." He gave her a hug. "Take care of that little ray of sunshine."

"I will, and you take care of your boys."

"Absolutely."

"You're a good man, Al. Don't ever doubt that."

"Thank you." He hugged her again. "I'll bring Linda here when it all settles down. She'll love you."

When he was gone, Piney took her arm. He had given her the information on Tara. Which basically was that they were on the same page as they had been when she left. "Ally want's you to call her. She's a bit wired up and want to set the meeting tomorrow morning."

"I'll call her immediately." She took a look at her watch, it wasn't that late and she would have time to sort somethings and still see Ally the same night. "Do you have a copy machine here?"

"Of course."

"Can I borrow it?" He took her to the office of the garage and pointed at the copy machine. She picked up the file from her bag and then she looked at him. "This is... I mean..."

Piney smiled and went outside, closing the door carefully. Ava took a deep breath and then opened the file.


	25. Who gave you that, Sunshine?

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters you recognize._

_I had to make some changes in the time line on her trip to New York. Nothing major at all and I'm not even convinced that you'll notice it but it bugged me. I don't like when it doesn't add up. Basically, she was there for a much shorter time than I wrote at first._

_As always; I'm so grateful for all reviews, favs and alerts. An extra thank you to the guest reviewers since I can't thank you in person._

* * *

**Chapter 25: Who gave you that, Sunshine?**

"Miss Sanders. I was starting to worry that you'd left us." Ally said as Ava entered her office. It was late at night but there was still quite a lot of activity. Ava assumed that someone who had the SOA as clients were kept quite busy at the moment.

"No. I told you I'd be back." She put the copied file on Ally's desk. "This is a copy, with a quite lousy copy machine I might add. Don't know if you want to take proper copies."

Ally sat down and started to flip to the pages. "I want proper copies of the photos at least."

"I have the original with me, but I want it back. I want to hang on to it."

"Off course. One minute." She picked up the phone and a couple of minutes later a younger man came into the office. "I want you to make first class copies of this file." She nodded to Ava who handed the young man the file. "If one page goes missing you're fired. I want them as soon as possible."

"How many?"

"Five." Ally didn't even look at the man who took the file and walked out again. She kept reading and Ava looked around in the office. It was expensive, she would imagine that a lawyer representing the entire Charming charter would make their fair share of money. At least they wouldn't lack cases.

She turned her eye to Ally who was still reading the papers. Six months ago she would have been ashamed of someone reading that. Now she wasn't. She didn't care. It wasn't only because of Happy, it was because of Grace and she remembered what Al had said, about have the tigress look. If exposing her past – that she was quite embarrassed about – could help her with this, she would. She didn't care who knew as long as it meant that Grace was safe.

"So, exactly what is the plan?" Ally said as she flipped through the remaining pages. Ava appreciated that she didn't comment on anything that was in the papers.

She explained the plan, in detail, and Ally's smile widened more and more as Ava explained. When she was done they both got up.

"And I'll dress very properly tomorrow morning."

Ally laughed. "Yes, please do. Look your very best."

"I will." She took Ally's hand. "Thank you."

"Just doing my job."

"No, thank you for not commenting on that." She pointed at the pile of papers at Ally's desk. "Or having the pity face."

She nodded and looked at Ava. "I don't do pity. But you're welcome."

-o0o-

Happy was relieved. They were finally on their fucking way home. With Abel.

Happy was walking down the stairs when Bobby's phone rang. Gemma gave Maureen a hug. He picked up the phone to call Ava.

"Still miss me?"

"_Miss your dick."_

"It misses you."

"_I'm meeting them in a while."_

"All set?"

"_Yes. Do you trust me?"_

"Babe, you know I do."

"_Good. Clark is coming with Grace in the morning after the meeting."_

"You're that sure?"

"_Hey! I thought you trusted me!" _

"We're on our way back."

"_You got Abel?"_

"Yes."

"_Oh, thank God. So glad to hear that."_

Happy looked up and saw Bobby going over to Jax with the phone. He had a serious look on his face, something was not right and Happy prayed that it didn't have anything to do with their ride. Then he realized, Bobby wouldn't have given the phone to Jax if it was. That was Clay's business and this was something else.

"Babe, I need to go."

"_Ok, see you soon then."_

"Yeah. Give 'em hell."

"_I will."_

He walked up to Bobby, Clay and Opie. Jax's face fell, pretty much back to the position it had been before he got Abel back.

He hung up the phone and looked at Clay. "Tara's been kidnapped."

Happy closed his eyes. This was fucking unbelievable, they just couldn't catch a fucking break.

-o0o-

Ava had her best dress, shoes, jewelry and a carefully laid make-up. Her hair was in a nice bun at the lower back of her head and Ally had nodded appreciatively when she saw her. "Very good."

They were sitting in the same room they had met them in the last time. It wasn't that long but it felt like a lifetime ago. Just as last time the others were late. Ava was going over everything in her head to make sure she wouldn't miss anything.

They finally came and both her and Ally stood up. They sat down opposite them and just as the lawyer was about to open his mouth Ally held up her hand.

"Last time we listened to you, I think it's our turn to talk. Don't you?"

"By all means, we are very interested to hear what you have to say." The lawyer said with a fake smile.

Ally leaned down and picked up the five copies of the file, giving them each a copy.

"This is a copy of a file with information about my client." The lawyer immediately started to flip through it but halted a few pages into it.

"What is this?"

"My client has kept records over the different... indiscretions Mr. Jonah Richardson has submitted her through. There are also some interesting incidents with Mrs. Mary Richardson. A signed testimony from a Judge about her verbal abuse of my client, among other things. That time was in court and her son was charged with the rape and assault of Miss. Sanders."

Ava looked at Mary who turned her eye down on the table.

"I don't see how any of this is of any interest to Ms. Sanders capabilities as a parent." He tried to look confident but Ava could hear the slight tremble on his voice, he was still flipping through the file. Then he stopped and she could see his jaw dropping. He looked up at her, down on the paper in front of him and finally turned his head to Mary and Eric.

Ava smiled. "Was that the pictures of my back?" It was a series of them, taken over the last six years, the only scars missing was the last ones.

Eric immediately opened the file and she saw the second he found that picture as well. He looked up at her and he had the face; shame and pity. She hated that face.

"I know that this isn't of any interest what so ever to my capabilities as a parent. That's not what I'm going to use it for." She said to the lawyer.

"What are you going to use it for?" Eric asked and she turned her attention to him.

"If I hear that you have even been within half a mile of the family court, I will send a copy of this file to every major news station on the west coast. Every single pice of information on what your son and wife have done will be on the news. I will agree to every interview request that I get. I will spill my guts about you family in every fucking morning TV couch I get invited to. All of it. I will ruin your political carrier and reputation. And I'll enjoy every second of it. The extra juicy part is that you're suing me for a kid that your son don't even admit was his. He never even signed the papers. I'll be sure to point that out."

"You can't prove that Jonah did this to you." Mary said and pointed at the photos.

"I've had a restraining order against him for six years. The government found me and Grace in such danger that they've spent a lot of money to protected me from him. It might not hold up in any legal court. But I don't care, the court of the public opinion is ruthless. You both know that."

No-one said anything and Ally collected her papers and took Ava's copy as well. "Did you have anything you wanted to add?" Ally looked around the table, Eric was still looking at the pictures. "No? Ok then, Ava. Let's go."

As they walked towards the building exit, Mary and Eric caught up with her. She motioned to Ally to leave them alone. "What?"

"If you let us meet Grace we'll give her the right to the inheritance that she's entitled to." Mary said. "Even if he never signs the papers." Mary obviously thought that Jonah was still alive.

"What?" Ava wasn't sure what she meant.

"As Jonah's daughter, she's entitled to a substantial amount. Millions." Eric explained.

Ava steeped up to him, he was taller but she was furious, she stared him right into his eyes. "My daughter isn't for sale. Don't ever approach her, if I hear that you have I'm sending out those files. If I even fucking see you here in Charming again, I'll send out those files. Is that clear?"

"Yes." Eric said and took Mary's arm when she seemed to work up her famous rage once again.

"I never did this for the money. I left him because I didn't want my child anywhere near him. I've spent every cent I had the last seven years to stay away from him." She took a deep breath. "I don't want you in Grace's life. More importantly; Grace doesn't want you in her life, she hates her dad as much as I do since she had to witness some of what your _son_ did to me."

That was the first time she got a reaction from Mary but Eric squeezed her arm again before she managed to say anything.

"We didn't know." He said instead.

"I might believe that if your moron wife said it, but you, you just choose to ignore it. Don't pretend otherwise." Ava said. "You're not loosing anything on this. He never signed the papers so there is no record of him having a child. No reporter will ask for it as long as you leave the two of us alone."

Eric nodded and Ava turned around and walked away. Eric ran up to her when she reached the door, leaving his wife behind. "If Grace would change her mind?"

"Excuse me?"

"When she's eighteen, would we be allowed to contact her then?" The comment made her realize that Eric might actually be interested in Grace, not just what she could to his political career. It didn't change her mind in the slightest but by the time Grace was eighteen, it wasn't up to Ava anymore.

"Yes. When she's eighteen, but if she doesn't want anything to do with you then either, you need to leave her alone."

He nodded. "For what it's worth; I am sorry."

Ava didn't respond, she nodded her head to him and then walked outside.

Ally was waiting next to her car. "I thought Gemma was a tough bitch, but you... you're right up there with her."

Ava might not have thought that she was worried, but a knot she hadn't even been aware of started to loosen in her stomach. Suddenly she was hyperventilating and a fog seemed to lift from around her. She had no idea that she had been so focused, that she the only thing she had thought of since Eric and Mary stepped into the library was the moment she had just been through. She could hardly remember anything from the last few days except that half an hour with Al on the bench, when she for a moment had let the panic take over her.

She hadn't realized that she was about to faint until she felt Ally putting her in the back seat of her car with the legs outside.

"Put your head between your knees." Ally's hand was in her neck, pushing her forward. "Deep breaths."

Ava felt tears that dripped down on her skirt and something else that she suspected was snot. She ignored it and tried to control her breathing.

When she felt in control again she sat up. Ally handed her a tissue. "I'm sorry. I... I don't know what happened."

"I was waiting for it." Ally said. "No-one is that controlled and it's usually a sign that they'll explode when they can finally relax."

That's when something else hit Ava. Something she should have paid more attention to. "Shit! You need to take me to the clubhouse."

"Sure."

She ran outside and found Piney inside. "I'm really sorry."

"About what?" He said.

"Tara. I totally... I don't know. I was so focused and... I don't even have an excuse." She suddenly felt sick and ran into the bathroom and threw up. Several times and it was painful since her stomach was pretty much empty.

Piney had followed her and when she turned around she saw him leaning agains the wall behind her, when she stood up he soaked a towel in the sink and handed it to her. "When's the last time you ate something?"

Ava thought about it for a few seconds while wiping her face. "Does coffee count?"

Piney shook his head. "How have you been sleeping?"

"Not well." She admitted. Maybe the lack of sleep hadn't been all about not having Happy in the bed next to her.

"Ally warned me about this." He took her out to the bar and made her scrambled eggs and coffee. Then he sat down next to her. "Eat. I'll tell you all about Tara while you're eating."

"I just threw up, Piney."

"Just the tension being released. You need food and sleep. Just eat." He insisted.

Ava started to eat and the food did make her feel better physically. It would take her quite some time to feel better psychologically. How could she totally ignore what was going on with Tara? A woman she had just started to consider as her friend, that was horrible.

"So were do we stand?"

Piney gave her a tired smile. "Knee deep in shit, I'd say."

"So what has happened?"

"A man named Salazar called me, he had kidnapped Tara and a woman named Margaret, some administrator at the hospital. He wanted us to do some things for him in exchange for her."

"Who is he?" She did notice the very vague 'some things' from Piney, but decided to leave that for now.

"He used to be the president of Caleveras." Piney brought out the bottle. The name ringed a bell to Ava. She continued to eat while he was talking, every time she stopped eating he stopped talking. "Yesterday Stahl came here, the hospital had contacted the police and told them that Tara and Margaret was missing."

It took Ava a few seconds, her brain still wasn't working properly. "Oh, by the way, I know her." Then something else clicked. Where she had heard about Caleveras before. "That president, is he the guy you dug into the ground and threatened? The one who was responsible for the drive by."

Piney looked at her with a surprised face. "He told you about that?"

"He shouldn't?" She wasn't sure about what the rules really was. Happy had said it was ok since she was his Old Lady and she had never questioned that.

Piney shrugged. "We talk to our Old Ladies, if we think they can handle it. I guess he thought you could." He watched her until she started eating again. ""We were going to do a drop of the money yesterday. The police fucked it up. According to Stahl it was our fault."

"What a surprise." She answered with her mouth full of food. She really hated that woman. She swallowed. "I think that she contacted the Richardsons. Can't really figure out what she thought she would gain from that."

"No, except from fucking with the club in general." He sighed. "Tara got Salazars girl."

"Got?"

"Stabbed her, she agreed to keeping her alive if he let Margaret go."

"So she's ok?"

"Yes."

"Now what?" She took a sip from the coffee and felt the caffein kicking in. The food did it's job as well. Piney had been right, she needed food, probably sleep as well but she had a suspicion Happy would keep her up that night.

"The guys are coming back in a while and you're going to go and get your girl. We'll take care of all this."

"I'm really sorry that I was so out of it." She felt a need to say it again. What she really felt a need to do was to apologies to Tara.

"There wasn't anything you could've done anyway."

"Still. I'm sorry." She looked down at her empty plate. "Thank you for the food."

"So our baby girl is safe?"

"Yes. She is."

"Good." Piney got up and she stood up next to him. "Are you ok to drive?"

"Sure."

He took a closer look. "Yeah, that's not going to happen. I'll get Dog to give you a lift to the airport."

Ava thought about protesting but she didn't think it would matter. Instead she took his arm and when he turned around she gave him a hug. "Thank you, Piney. You've been great."

"You're welcome darling." He patted her back and since he was used to pat bikers in cuts, it was quite a hard pat. "That girl needs you."

-o0o-

Tig opened the doors to the van and welcomed them home. Happy was so fucking relieved to be back and he looked around for Ava and Grace. He turned to Filthy Phil who was unloading the van.

"Where's Ava?"

"In Oakland, picking up Grace from the airport." He answered.

He picked up the phone and called her.

"_Are you back?"_

"Yeah, when are you here?"

"_About and hour."_

"Good." He moved away from the others. "Miss you."

"_Sorry, didn't catch that."_ She had her teasing voice.

"Yes you did." He said and hung up the phone.

Kozic came up to him and gave him a hug. "Your Old Lady did great. Piney sent her with Dog to pick up Sunshine."

"Where's Piney?"

"Waiting for Gemma in the cabin."

"Why didn't she drive herself?"

"She's..." Kozic started. "You should probably talk to Piney about this shit."

What the fuck was this about. "She's, what?"

"Once she was done it got to her. Or something like that." Kozic said and Happy knew he was staring at him. "Piney got her something to eat. She's fine. He just thought she needed the lift. He told me to ask you to give him a call."

"Ok." That would have to wait. Ava would probably tell him anyway.

They both walked into the clubhouse and the chapel. Tig and Kozic got them up to speed with the situation with. It didn't look good. Alvarez and the Mayans couldn't risk that Salazar was taken alive. He knew to much about their H-business. And Tara wasn't any of Alvarez concern, they needed to keep him in check while finding Tara. And he wasn't that easy to keep in check. They were going to start with Salazar's aunt, he had kept Tara and Margaret in the aunts house when he let Margaret go.

They got out and he heard a scream.

"Happy!" Grace rammed his legs. "I missed you!" She said when he picked her up. He gave her a long hug.

Suddenly he heard a laughter and turned around and looked Bobby. "What?"

Bobby pointed at Grace and Happy took a closer look at her t-shirt. It was pink and it said 'Reaper crew' on the chest.

"Who gave you that, Sunshine?" Bobby asked.

"Randell made it for me." She held it out to show it properly. "He called it silkscreen. It's nice."

Happy put his arm around Ava's waist. "All good?"

"Yes." She said.

Bobby reached out for Grace. "Come on Girl. Give me the report on the New Yorkers and what they are up to. And we need to show Gemma that t-shirt."

Grace nodded and Happy took Ava to his dorm.

"What happened?"

"I have kept a file on everything on Jonah and his parents. Testimonies, pictures, all of it." She put her arms around his waist and kissed his neck. "I told them I'd send a copy of it to every major news station on the west coast if they tried anything."

He looked at her. "A file?"

"Yes." She stepped closer to him.

"Pictures?"

"Yes." She nodded again, she looked tired but had a slight smile that he recognized. She was turned on just by seeing him. He liked that.

"Why didn't you tell me that?"

"I wasn't sure if I'd use it. Besides; I had it under control."

"Still, you shuold've told me. She's my girl too." Happy thought about it for a few seconds. Then he made up his mind. "Can I see it?"

That made the old look on her face come back. The one she used to have but had lost over the last few months. "Why?" She said while looking at pretty much everything but him.

He reeled her in and made her look at him. "Why does it make you uncomfortable?"

"I don't know. It's some nasty pictures, reports and stuff. And it doesn't matter anymore."

He kissed her. "Kozic said it got to you. What happened?"

"I almost fainted, then I realized that I hadn't even thought about Tara and when I talked to Piney I threw up." He took a closer look. "I brushed my teeth."

That made him laugh. "That's not it." He kissed her again and he was getting hard, even in the middle of all this shit, he wanted her, bad. "Feeling better know?"

"I'm fine. Great even when I have you and Grace back."

He slid his hand up her dress and felt the crow. "Kept that pussy wet?"

Ava was stunned for a few seconds and then looked up at him. He was really thinking about that right now?

"Seriously?"

Happy got closer and now both his hands was underneath her dress, squeezing her ass. "We're waiting for someone and Tara isn't going to be any safer if I look for her while thinking of you." He had a smile on his lips and then leaned down to suck on her lip. And that was pretty much all she needed, she had missed him. She put her arms around his neck and his hands was inside her underwear, pulling them down.

"So this would make you more concentrated?"

"Oh, yeah." Happy said and then moaned when she found his dick inside his jeans.

"Missed me?" She mumbled into his neck. "Or just my pussy?"

He pulled her down in his lap and she straddled him and sank over his dick while watching him straight into his black eyes. His hand was around the back of her neck and he kissed her. She knew why, he wasn't much for sweet words and she was ok with that. Sometimes she liked to tease him about it though.

She moved over his dick and his hands was still on her ass. As so often he flipped her around to finish. This time it was a bit sooner than expected.

"That quick?" She asked when she was on her back and he kissed her again while running his hand along her side and in between them to rub her clit. And she came, as hard as he always made her come and just before he gave her the last few hard thrusts.

He took her chin and looked at her with a crocked smile. "That quick?"

"Smarty pants." She laughed and pushed him so he rolled off her. When she sat up he took her arm and pulled her down on his chest.

"I did miss you." He kissed her. "And I'm fucking proud of you."

"Despite fainting and throwing up?"

"Despite that. And despite not telling me about Tara."

"You need to take that with Tig and Piney." She sat up again and went into the bathroom, picking up her panties on the way.

"I know, babe." She heard Happy moving around as well. "Just pissed that I missed it on the phone."

"Honestly, I hardly thought about it. Felt like a complete ass when I realized it." She walked outside again and tried to sort her hair out.

"Nothing you could've done."

There was a knock on the door. "You two kids need to finish up later!" It was Chibs thick accent and Ava felt herself blush.

Happy laughed. "No tellin' them we'd been done for a while." He kissed her again. "I'm taking Grace for a ride tomorrow."

"Ok." She looked at him for a while. "Ready to go out?"

"Yeah."

Happy watched Ava from behind as she walked ahead of him through the clubhouse. He had missed her and that crazy kid as well. Grace skipped towards him when she saw him and he shook his head when he saw her t-shirt. She hadn't spent that many days in New York and she had obviously charmed the shit out of those guys as well.

"Can you take me for a ride tomorrow?"

"Sure thing, Sugar." He knelt down and gave her another hug. "What did Gemma say?" He pulled the hem of her t-shirt.

"That she'd make me a much nicer one." Grace still had a huge smile on her face. "With the reaper on it." She kissed him and then ran up to Ava and took her hand.

He shook his head and watched her and Ava walk outside.

"All good with her at least?" Clay asked.

"Yeah, all taken care of."

"That's good to hear." Bobby said and they went outside to see what Salazars aunt had to say.


	26. New ink?

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons Of Anarchy or any of its characters. You know who does_

_**This is a long A/N, mainly since I had some weird PM's, sorry about that I just need to get this info out there.**_

_First: I'm sorry for the delay, but as I mentioned I'm on vacation. Or I was, I'm home now, but anyway. Here's the next chapter and there aren't that many chapters left. In fact; I think it might just be one more. Good news is; The Grace story is already freakishly long so you won't have to wait for that one to start._

_Second: I've had some strange PM's asking me if I stopped writing and if I'm not satisfied with the number of reviews etc. So I'll let you all know; **NO! Absolutely not**, I'm thrilled at the response this story has had. And as thrilled, humbled, happy, excited (etc, you get the point) that I am, that isn't why I write. I write because I love writing, I publish because I like to know what other people think and also because I'm proud of the stories. I have no idea why I suddenly had those questions but rest assured; if there's a pause in my publish, I'm either extremely busy with other things or just lost the muse for a while. It is NEVER you duty to keep me writing by giving me feedback, as much as I love it, it's all up to me._

_Third: Despite my rant (sorry about that, I think I felt slightly insulted that someone would think I'd stop writing for lack of reviews) Thank you so much for favs, alerts and reviews. And as for reviews. WOW I have more than 300 reviews, that is just absolutely stunning. A special thank you to the guest reviewers since I can't thank you in person. Also, one of the guest pointed out that I messed up with Ally's name. I did, I think I fixed them all and I'm really sorry and embarrassed about that._

**Chapter 26: New ink?  
**

When Happy came home, Ava was waiting up for him. The second he came through the door she jumped him.

"Haven't had enough?" He hadn't had enough either and he knew that she was pretty much up to speed with what had happened. She had spent the day at Gemma's house with Grace. And Gemma being Gemma had made sure that she knew everything that had been going on.

"Not even close." She mumbled and he took her to the bedroom.

He peeled off her clothes along the way and kept kissing. She was undressed by the time they went through the door. Ava had her hand down his jeans and a he could feel the smile on her lips.

"Did you miss me then?" He asked and she only nodded before pulling him towards the bed. She was naked and he still had all his clothes on. "Babe, out loud." He teased her and she shook her head. "Want me to fuck you with my clothes on again?"

Since she still didn't say anything he pushed her on the bed and simply unbuckled his jeans before entering her. If that's what the lady wanted, that's what she'd get.

Suddenly she took him by surprise and turned them around and was on top of him, sitting up. It turned him when she took the initiative like this something that had happened more often lately. She was sitting up with her eyes closed and he held her hips. To make it even better she leaned down and whispered in his ear;

"I missed you and I love you."

Ava held his gaze until and picked up the speed. She had a feeling that he wouldn't let her get away with this for long and as she suspected he sat up. But instead of flipping her around he put his arm around her waist and kissed her.

"Again." He said between the kisses.

"I missed you?" If she teased him he would punish her, that was usually something that made her come.

"Bitch." His free hand came up her waist and up to her breast and to her surprise he pinched her nipple. Not hard but a little harder than what could be considered gentle. What surprised her even more was how she reacted to it. She liked it and tried to contain a cry. "Liked that?" He smiled.

"Yes." She said in a moan. He put his hands in her armpits and leaned her backwards to suck on her nipple, hard. "Oh my God." That was all she could say and suddenly she was on her back.

Happy'd had a feeling that she would like it. He had been very careful with doing something that would be painful. He didn't want to scare her. But he had grabbed her ass hard a couple of times and she had liked it, even squeezed her tits a little harder than necessary before. This was the first time he had done it in an obvious way to make sure she noticed. And even if her moan had sounded a bit surprised, she had liked it.

He didn't want to push any further and took it careful the rest of the time until they both came. As he was next to her he stroke her nipple carefully. "You ok?"

"Yes." She turned around and put an arm around him. "I'm gonna go brush my teeth and take a shower."

He watched her ass as she walked away then he pulled up his pants and followed her. In the door to the bathroom he caught her trying to walk outside of the bathroom with the toothbrush in her mouth.

"Stay in the fucking bathroom."

She pointed at Grace's door and said something.

"I don't know what you're trying to say but you can check on her later."

That made her groan something but she walked back inside and rinsed her mouth. "I was just going to check on Grace."

"Do it now, without the toothbrush."

"Picky." She said and kissed his cheek as she walked by.

"What happened to the shower?"

"Tomorrow."

Happy took a shower alone instead and by the time he was back in bed Ava was already asleep.

-o0o-

He woke up in the middle of the night and turned around to look at Ava. He knew they were going inside soon and he couldn't tell her. He couldn't even tell her that it wouldn't be more than fourteen months since he couldn't explain how he knew that.

Following the patterns on her back he ran his hand all the way down to her ass inside the panties. She moaned in her sleep and pushed her ass against him.

He didn't stop and by the time she was fully awake he slid inside her again. This time they took it even slower since they were both just barely awake.

When they were done she had a slight smile on her lips. "I wish you could wake me up like this in the morning."

"Can't, your cock blocking daughter usually wakes me up first."

She laughed. "You can't keep calling her that."

"Not like I do it when she can hear me."

"Even so." She smiled and turned towards him to hold him. "It's not nice."

"I know." He kissed her hair. "Still love her."

She looked at him with big eyes and then smiled. "I know."

"Crazy kid but she's the best."

"I know that too." She was still smiling.

"Get some sleep, babe." He held her like he always did, arm around her with his hand on her breast.

-o0o-

Grace woke him up in the morning. "Happy." She whispered while pushing his shoulder.

"Hi, Sugar."

"Can you make me breakfast before mom wakes up?" She was still whispering.

"Sure." He got up and they went out into the kitchen together. "I'm guessing toast and juice."

She gave him the biggest smile and nodded.

"Do you still have the picture?" She asked and he nodded towards the bedroom.

"Have a look in the pocked." She sneaked inside and when she came out she had another huge smile on her face. "I'm doing another tattoo today. Wanna come with me?"

"What are you doing?"

"You'll see."

Ava came out a while later and kissed Grace's head. "Toast and juice?"

"Happy is making another tattoo today. He's letting me watch."

"Nice." Ava poured a cup of coffee.

"And then you're mom is taking a ride with me." He said to Grace.

Ava spun around and watched him with huge eyes. "What?" He nodded. "But you don't have a bitch seat."

"I do now." He got up. "We're heading to the club first. Big breakfast there."

-o0o-

Ava got out of the car and walked inside. Happy had taken Grace on the bike, if she had the option she always choose the bike over the car. Now she was in Bobby's lap talking about something while waving her arms vigorously. Tig was in the chair next to them. Ava was sure that Tig was more or less crazy but he had never been anything but good to her or Grace.

Happy had told her that Tig had two twin daughters that he hardly ever met and that seemed to be the case with quite a few of the members. They had kids who wasn't in their life and that was probably why they all had taken on Grace like she was their own.

Gemma walked up to her with one of her satisfied smiles.

"Heard you did good."

"Hope so."

"Think we're rubbing off on you darlin'. Threatening them into submission. I like it."

"Needed to be clear."

"And you were."

Ava noticed Tara at the other side of the room and excused herself to Gemma and went to Tara.

"How are you?"

"I'm ok." She gave her a hug. "Heard that all is ok with Grace as well."

"Yeah." Ava swallowed. "I kind of lost myself in that. Even lost sight of you, what was going on with you."

Tara looked at her. "I lost a child, not my own but even so. I don't blame you." She gave her another hug. "Besides, what would you have done?"

"Something." Tara didn't seem to bothered, probably since most things had worked out, Abel was home, she was back with Jax. Which led her to another question. "What's going on with that?" She pointed towards her belly.

"I got kidnapped on my way to the clinic." Tara had a slight smile on her lips. "And Gemma spilled to Jax."

"You knew she would."

Bobby came over with Abel in his arms. Ava took him and drilled her nose into his neck. Nothing smelled better than a baby. She looked up at Tara and handed him over.

"I'll go see if I can find something to eat. Talk to you later."

Tara nodded. "Come by later. I'll be at Jax's house."

Grace was running around and Ava found Happy next to Chuck. "See, that's what happens when you give her that much sugar for breakfast." She pointed towards Grace.

"She's always like that."

"No, she's not."

Happy kissed her. Thats when Opie yelled. "Lyla's got something to say!"

Lyla held up her hand. "We're getting married!"

This was a perfect moment. Ava was surrounded by friends and people who would protect her. With all the bad things that had happened and the jail time that was coming, this was a moment she needed to savor and she did.

Happy caught Grace as she ran by and picked her up then put his arm around Ava. As oppose to her he knew that shit was really about to hit the fan. At least he knew that his girls was safe and he knew that he could trust Piney and the others to look after them.

-o0o-

Grace ran into the tattoo-parlor ahead of him. "Freddie!" She yelled and Freddie smiled at her.

"How's crazy Grace?"

"Good. Happy is making a tattoo."

"I heard." He looked up at Happy. "What are you doing and where?"

Happy pointed at Grace. "I want her face with muerte paint."

Grace stared at him. "You're making my face?"

"They're not going to let me keep the picture of you in jail." He said to her and picked her up. "And no matter what, you're my kid now, so I want others to know it."

"I'm your kid?" She said and put her arms around his neck.

"Yup." She looked at him and then hugged him tight.

He sat down next to Freddie. "Color or black and white?"

"Black and white and her blue eyes."

Freddie nodded. It took him half an hour and then he held up the picture. "How's that?"

"What do you think, Sugar?"

Grace leaned forward and looked at the picture. "It looks like me."

"Like it?"

She looked at Happy with big eyes and nodded. Then she took a deep breath and exhaled a "Yes." He had never seen her so still, except when she was upset or thinking about something she didn't like. He was pretty sure she liked this.

"Where should I make it?" He took off his cut and t-shirt and she climbed up on a chair next to him. She pointed at the base on the back of his neck, on the left side.

"There." She said and Happy looked at Freddie and nodded.

It wasn't big, about 3,5 inch in diameter so it wouldn't take long.

"Can I watch?" She asked Freddie who nodded at her so she rolled a chair next to him and sat down. Happy was lying down on his stomach and was slightly amazed at how quiet Grace was, that usually was only the case when she was sleeping. There was probably something bothering her after all.

Suddenly he heard the sound of her rolling her chair and she sat down in front of him. She looked at him for a while and then she leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

"Like it?" He asked and she nodded with a smile.

"When I turn eighteen, will you do a muerte skull on me?"

"Sure." He said. He had a feeling she would change her mind a few times before that happened. But when she turned eighteen he'd do any ink she wanted.

When Freddie was done Happy got up and started to get dressed.

"Shit!" He heard Freddie say and turned around. "Need to get you some lotion from the storage." Happy picked up Grace after Freddie had left, she was still quiet.

"Wanna tell me what's up?"

"I'll miss you." He knew what she meant.

"You can visit me and I'll write to you. I'll be out before you know it."

"Mom said that I didn't have to worry about dad's parents."

"Nah, she took care of that. She's a smart woman your mom."

"I know." Grace was playing with the buttons on his cut. "So you're going to stay with us now?"

"Sugar, I told you. I'm not going anywhere. Soon as I get out I'll come for you." He kissed her cheek and she nodded.

"And mom?"

"And mom." He agreed. "Love you, Baby Girl."

"Good." She smiled.

"You're supposed to say it back."

"I love you, Happy."

Freddie came back and handed him the lotion. "Make sure you give me a call when you get out."

"Sure." He shook his hand and watched Grace giving him a hug and whispered something in Freddie's ear. Freddie nodded and waved at her when they left.

He took Grace on the bike and drove to their bench and gave her an ice cream.

"Wanna tell me what you said to Freddie?"

"That I liked the tattoo and I asked him if he could paint me if mom took me there while you're gone."

Happy lit a cigarette. Grace was amazing with people, so open and at the same time if she didn't like someone she didn't even mention them. The art-teacher at her school had said something about tattoos, that they were white trash or some shit like that. Since then, Grace had completely ignored her. It didn't matter what anyone said and finally the school had given up since Grace did everything she was supposed to. She was just dead quiet while she did it.

"So, what else did Gemma say about your t-shirt?"

"That she'd get me a much nicer one." Grace looked extremely satisfied. "And that I could call her grandma' if I liked but only when no-one else could hear me."

"You know you'll be fine. Opie, Chibs and Piney will take care of you."

"And mom."

"Yes. You'll be ok. Both of you." He put out his smoke and picked her up in his knee. "And if anything's wrong you'll talk to Piney and let me know."

"I will." She swallowed the last piece of the ice cream and then snuggled up closer to him. The panic he used to have about how she made him feel was gone. That was probably thanks to that fuckheads parents threatening to take her away. No-one would take his girls from him. None of them.

"Come on, I'll take you home." He said and put her down on the ground.

She skipped towards the bike and he helped her with the helmet. "Think Chibs would take me on rides?"

"Not sure I want you on a bike with someone else."

"Oh." She pouted.

"But I'm sure he'd do it if you ask him."

"Yeah?"

"Sugar, I'm pretty sure you can make them do anything you like." He helped her with her helmet.

She lit up. "Tattoo?"

"No, they wouldn't do anything they thought would piss me off."

He started the bike and took Grace home. While they walked up the stairs his phone rang.

"_Need you here."_

It was Clay. "Just dropping Grace off."

"Do you need to go?" Grace said.

"Yeah. I'll take your mom on a ride later."

Grace opened the door and ran inside. "Mom! Happy made a tattoo of me!"

"What?" Ava said as she came from the kitchen. "A tattoo of you?"

"It's my face with muerte paint on it. And blue eyes, like mine." She opened her eyes wide and pointed at them when she said the last part.

Ava stared at Happy. He had done a tattoo of Grace? He smiled at her and she went to him, he turned around and bent his knees. She looked at the plastic on his neck. Even when it was covered she could still see some of it.

He turned around again and kissed her. "Told you she was my kid too." She nodded, she was afraid that she would start to cry if she opened her mouth. "Like it?"

She shook her head. "Love it."

"Good." He kissed her again. "I need to go."

"Ok." That meant she wouldn't have to go on a ride with him, something she was quite pleased about.

Grace ran up to him and he gave her a kiss as well. "I'll see you two later."

When he had left Ava turned around and looked at Grace. She was still smiling.

"He said I was his kid."

"Then I guess you are." She picked her up. "You're a lucky kid."

"I know." Grace gave her a hug. "I'll miss him when he's in prison. Can we visit him there?"

"Of course."

Grace squirmed so Ava put her down again. It was hard to believe that Happy had made a tattoo of Grace, at the same time it was logical and only fair. She had a crow on her leg for him so he should definitely have something of hers on him. What could be better than Grace?

More importantly; the tattoo also showed her that he would be there for Grace, no matter what. That she was his kid and he wouldn't abandon her. That meant more to Ava than any words he could say to her.

The tattoo told her something else that worried her more. He was cleaining house, getting ready and knew something he couldn't tell her. There was no way of telling for cirtain, but he seemed to be making sure everything was set for his time inside and by the looks of it, he was going very soon. She hadn't asked him because she didn't want him to lie. If he could tell her he would so she kept her suspicions to herself.

-o0o-

Happy looked at Lowen who was giving them the message from Lenny the Pimp's lawyer. As she was about to go outside he got up and went to her.

"Thank you."

"For what?" She said.

"Helping Ava."

She laughed. "I wasn't helping her. I was just along for the ride. That's one hell of a woman." She said as she walked out and Happy stared after her before closing the door. He had talked to Big Al earlier and had to give him a point. When it came to Grace, Ava was a tigress. Not that he had doubted that, but it was nice to know that others had noticed.

They figured out the code that Lenny's lawyer had given them. They needed Jimmy for the rest of their plan to work. And they badly needed their plan to work. Happy hadn't told Ava that the crazy fucking ATF-agent had shot her own partner. An agent who did shit like that to make sure she herself got off the hook would do anything to get what she wanted. She would fuck them over if she could and to make sure they knew how, Jimmy was essential.

There was a lot of things he hadn't told Ava lately, he couldn't. It didn't bother him, that was a part of being in the club and she would find out all the things she needed by the time they were done.

-o0o-

Ava was at Tara's with Grace, Abel and Neeta when Tara's phone rang. She picked it up and walked out of the room.

Grace was sitting next to Neeta painting while watching her feed Abel.

"What are you drawing?" Ava asked.

"Muerte skulls." Grace said without lifting her eyes from the paper.

"Let me see." Neeta said and Grace pushed the paper over the table.

"Can I feed him?" She asked Neeta. Neeta didn't answer and gave Grace a smile while handing her the spoon.

Tara came in. "Can I talk to you, Ava?"

"Sure." She followed her outside.

"I need to get to the police station. Gemma turned herself in. She's terrified about something and I need to go and talk to her."

"Why would she do that?" It didn't seem like Gemma. Especially since she had made such an effort to get the hell away earlier.

"I don't know, that's why I need to get down there." Tara looked worried.

"Ok. Do you want me to wait here?"

"Neeta'll stay with Abel but if you could wait here it would be great."

"Sure." Ava shrugged.

"Somethings going on." Tara said and sat down on a chair in the hallway.

"I know." Ava admitted. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had noticed. "I guess you're in the dark as well?"

"Yeah. Jax hasn't told me anything." She sighed and got up. "I'm going to see what the hell Gemma is doing and then I'll talk to Jax. I'll call you."

"Sounds good." She gave her a hug before she hurried off and then went back into the kitchen.

"Problems?" Neeta asked and gave her an evaluation look as she entered.

"I honestly don't know." She sat down again. "But I'm sure coffee could ease the tension."

Neeta smiled and poured her a cup. Ava had a feeling that this would be a long day.

-o0o-

Thanks to the former professional masturbator Chuck, they had the two millions they needed to pay for Jimmy. They had the location and the time.

They were sitting around the table again. With two hours while Eddie was cutting the prints they were fine tuning the plan.

"I want two bags." Clay said and pointed at Bobby. "You, Juice and Cuckie will put one million in each bag. Piney and Tig make sure all weapons are ok. We'll have the heavy one's in a bag in the front seat."

"Shouldn't we be packing them?" Tig asked. "It's risky even with the big guns on us."

"If we show up with those weapons visible they'll know somethings off. We bring them, all the bodies we got but we're keeping them hidden. If we can get out of there without pulling them it's the best way."

"They'll notice the moneys fake." Bobby said.

"Putlova isn't going to look at them with us watching. One of his goons are gonna go through it instead." Jax said. "He'll probably wait until he's alone in the car and they'll come after us but by then we have Jimmy and we can draw them into the trap."

Jax was probably right. He was usually right when it came to stuff like that and Happy trusted him. At the same time he agreed with Tig. It was risky to not have proper weapons.

"If we keep the hardware in the front seat and with Tig next to it and the rest of us not to far from the van it could work even if they open fire. We can protect ourselves with the guns until we get to the van." Bobby said and Tig finally nodded, he didn't look pleased but he agreed.

"I want Juice and Hap with me, really fucking close to the car." Tig said.

"Sure." Clay agreed. "Hap drives the Van with the prospects in the back with Jimmy."

Happy nodded. He wasn't too pleased about driving a fucking cage but this wasn't the time to be picky. He was going to do whatever needed to be done.

"How do we do the switch?" He asked. They already knew that they had to get Jimmy out of the Van before drawing the Russians into the ATF-trap. The Van needed to be empty before that.

"We can't spare anyone, we need each and everyone at the site for the exchange." Clay said. "We're going to need someone else. Not a member." He looked at Jax.

"No fucking way!" Jax said and Happy couldn't blame him. But at the same time Clay had a point. They needed bodies and Tara could get in an out of the area and knew the surroundings. They also needed someone they could trust. "What about a prospect?"

"No. We need both of them in the back of the Van." Clay shook his head. "They'll both go with her in the car to the garage."

Jax finally agreed but he didn't look pleased. "The ATF will cut the Russians off so we'll need to dump the van there." He pointed at Happy. "You'll need to get out of it and jump behind one of us."

"You can ride bitch with me, Hap." Tig said and was suddenly very cheerful. Hap didn't ride bitch and he was about to protest until he realized that if Clay could get Jax's Old Lady involved he probably didn't give a shit about what he thought about riding bitch. So he nodded and gave Tig the finger. He would never hear the end of this. Fourteen months inside with a gloating Tig wasn't something he didn't looked forward to. Months of comments like 'that time you rode bitch behind me'.

"The next part of the plan is already set. Any questions?" Clay said.

They all shook their heads. As the got ready they'd go through it all again, probably several times with every detail checked and double checked.

Happy felt a hand in the neck lining when they walked out to the bar.

"New ink?" Chibs asked.

"Yeah."

"What is it?" Tig was trying to have a look.

"Grace." He said and walked a little faster. He didn't want any questions about it, it wasn't any of their fucking business. Tig was about to say something so he turned around, nailed him down with a look and fucking dared him to say something.

"Ok." Tig said and then picked up a bag and went to the gym where they stored their guns. He might be an ass in some ways, but he knew what was off limits.


	27. One letter a week

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sons Of Anarchy or any of its characters, they are the product of Kurt Sutter's mind and belongs to him and FX._

_I'm a huge believer of ending things, nothing is good forever and if my readers tells me that they hate that the story ends, I consider it a success, they liked it and I managed to keep their interest to the end. Also, if I keep writing I'll get fed up with the characters and the story would get boring. This story was always meant to only follow the second and third season and to me it feels done._

_You could of course argue that I'm continuing this story since I'm writing a sequel about Grace, but that story isn't about Happy and Ava. They're in it, obviously, but it's not about them. And I like Grace, she deserves a story of her own._

_As always, thank you for favs, alerts and reviews, ff has some of the most loyal, amazing and lovely readers. More thanks you's at the end.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 27: One letter a week**

Happy walked outside of the clubhouse, that familiar, slightly excited, feeling was spreading through him. He liked this, when they were getting ready to execute a plan they've been working towards for a long time.

Tara was already there, next to Opie.

"Is Awa at Jax's place?" He asked her.

"No, she's at the station with Lowen. They're picking up Gemma."

"And Grace?"

"She's with her."

That he didn't like. If she was picking up Gemma with Lowen she'd come to the club later and that meant Grace would come with her. He didn't want Grace there.

"Something wrong?" Opie asked and Happy shook his head. He'd figure that out later. He needed to put that aside right now and focus.

"Grace said you did a tattoo of her." Tara said with a smile.

"Yeah." That was all he said before he walked inside again. "Tara's here." He said to Jax who left and Chibs handed him a vest. Putting on the vest was the sign for him that they were 'go'. He let go of everything but the task at hand.

Outside they watched Jax talk to Tara and then Clay talking to Unser. They hugged and then he finally went inside the van. His pulse wasn't high but he was extremely ready to finnish this. He couldn't wait for it all to be over. To tie up all the loose ends before going inside.

-o0o-

Ava was sitting at the station with Grace in her lap.

"Was she the one who helped you?" Grace asked and looked at Ally who was going through papers with one of the officers.

"Yes."

"I don't think she likes kids." Grace glaring eyes didn't left Ally. "She doesn't smile with her eyes."

"She was a great help so please be nice to her, you don't have to like her."

"I don't."

"I gathered." Grace could be very difficult and she didn't believe in pretending in front of people. "You only have to be polite." Ava tried.

"Ok." Grace said and finally smiled when she saw Gemma. She jumped down and went up to Gemma and took her hand.

"We need to make a quick stop at my house then we can wait for the others at the clubhouse." Gemma said and Ava nodded. She didn't mind.

-o0o-

Happy got off Tig's bike.

"So, you're officially a bitch." Tig said with a huge smile.

"Shut the fuck up." Happy said and started to peel of the vest. He wasn't really pissed, so far everything had gone according to the plan and if him riding bitch had helped he was ok with that. He wasn't sure he'd be ok with the comments Tig's would give him for the coming _years._

Tig leaned agains his drag bars. "If you show me the ink I'll never mention it again."

"Ink?"

"Of Grace." Happy shrugged and turned around. He had removed the plastic and washed it earlier. Tig took a look. "Freddie?"

"Yeah." He turned around and noticed Tig's smile. "Not a word."

"Didn't say anything. Looks good." Tig was still smiling. "Bet Grace liked it."

"Yes."

Tig pointed towards the gate. "Speak of the rascal."

Ava's Ghia drove up and Grace came running half a minute later.

"Happy!" He picked her up and she climbed higher and tried to look at the back of his neck. "Did you see it Tig? He did a tattoo of my face."

"I saw it."

"I'm doing a muerte scull when I'm eighteen."

"Where?" Tig asked and Grace was stunned for a few seconds. Apparently she hadn't thought of that.

"Here." She said when she had decided and pointed at the inside of her left lower arm. "That's where I'll make it."

"Good spot." Tig agreed. "Can show it off or hide it, whichever you like."

Grace looked very pleased and Happy gave her a kiss.

Ava saw Lowen's car coming inside behind her and said hi to Clay as he passed her. Grace was already in Happy's arm. Tig gave Grace a kiss before going over to one of the garage doors.

When she reached Happy he gave hugged her with his free arm.

"It's Jax!" Grace said with a smile.

Behind Jax was more cars.

"Who's that?" Ava asked Happy. His jaws were tense. "Tell me!"

"ATF." He handed Grace over. "Take her inside."

"What?" She held Grace and noticed that she was concerned as well. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, babe. But whatever this is about I don't want her around." He nodded towards Grace. He noticed the look on Grace's face and gave her another kiss. "I love you, Sugar."

Grace only nodded before putting her arms around Ava's neck. Ava looked at Stahl as she passed them and noticed her face. Happy was right. Whatever this was about Grace shouldn't be here for it.

"I love you." She said to him before taking Grace inside the clubhouse.

"Mom, what's happening?"

"I honestly don't know Grace."

"Why couldn't I stay outside?"

"Some things are better if you don't see." She hugged Grace and they sat quiet for a while.

"Promise me I can go visit him."

"I promise." Ava said into her hair. Apparently they were both thinking the same thing. That he was going to jail now. "We'll write him letters and do drawings as well."

"One letter a week." Grace said.

"Ok." Tara came inside with Gemma behind her, they had both been crying. "What happened?"

Just behind them was Ally. She held a blue file in her hands. "Fourteen months and Gemma got six months of house arrest." She said to Ava.

Ava looked between Tara and Gemma. That was good news. Fourteen months was a lot less than she had feared. Then she realized something else. How the hell did Ally know that? Wasn't there supposed to be a trial? Gemma took a deep breath when she looked at her. She knew that Ava had puzzled the pieced together.

"Jax made a deal with Stahl."

Shit, shit, shit. That was the only thing going through Ava's head. Jax had done something stupid.

"Ava, why don't you come home with me?" Tara said. "Lyla is waiting with Neeta and Abel at Gemma's place."

"Ok." She got up and when she passed Gemma she hugged her hard. "I'll stop by tomorrow."

"I'll be there." She said in an almost sarcastic tone.

She was in the nursery next to Tara and Grace was in the living room watching TV. Grace knew that something was wrong and Ava fully expected that thousand questions would be asked during the evening. The only problem was how to answer them.

Tara wasn't crying anymore but she was far from ok. There was a knock on the door and Ava got up to answer it. It was Filthy Phil.

"Is Tara here?"

Ava stepped to the side and showed him in.

"Phil!" Grace yelled and gave him a hug.

"Hi, Grace. I need to get to Tara."

"Ok." Grace said and let go of him. Phil continued inside and Ava pointed him to the nursery.

He came out just a few seconds later. Grace looked at him. "Can you watch TV with me for a while?"

"Sorry. I have to get back to the clubhouse." He gave her a hug. "Some other time."

"Ava." Tara yelled from the nursery. "Can you come here?"

Ava went inside and Tara shoved a letter in her hands the minute she stepped through the door. "What is this?"

"Read it."

Ava did. It was a letter from Jax explaining what had happened. That him ratting the club out was fake, they all knew what he was doing and they did it because they needed ATF on their side. It also said that Stahl was dead.

Ava looked at Tara. "Think anyone will actually miss her?"

Tara was stunned for a few seconds and then she started to laugh. "You really hate her guts."

"Hated, past tense." Ava said and then she started to laugh as well. "I know that's not the important stuff here but..." She couldn't continue, she couldn't stop laughing. None of them could.

All the tension had disappeared at and this time she laughed instead of threw up. So that was good. She was trying very hard to not sing 'ding dong the witch is dead'. Even if that made her feel like a terrible person the though of that song made her laugh even harder.

"To sum it up;" Tara said while drying her eyes. "Stahl is dead, they got fourteen months in jail and Gemma got house arrest. I'd say that's a pretty good result."

Ava stayed for a while and then took Grace home and as she suspected the questions started in the car.

"What happened? Why was Gemma and Tara upset?"

"They thought Jax had done something stupid and that he was in trouble. It turned out that he hadn't."

"But Happy is in jail."

"Yes."

"How long will he be there?"

"Fourteen months. One year and two months." Ava said and she noticed how Grace's shoulders fell a little. "I know that it seems like a really long time." Grace nodded. "We'll make sure time passes quickly, we'll write to him every week and visit as often as possible."

"Can I touch him when we visit?"

"I don't know." Ava thought about it for a while. "I really hope so."

They came home and had dinner still talking and finally Grace ran off to start writing the first letter. She had decided that she was going to write a little everyday so that Happy knew what she was doing.

After Grace had gone to bed Ava cleaned up the apartment. When she came into the bedroom she noticed Happy's t-shirt on the floor and picked it up to throw it in the laundry. As she threw it on top of the pile she had in her arms she felt the smell. It smelled of Happy so he took it and pressed it against her face.

That was it. She dropped the other clothes on the floor and sat down on the edge of the bed and just drew in his smell for a long time. She missed him already and all of a sudden fourteen months didn't seem like such a short time. It felt like forever.

-o0o-

**Two weeks:**

Happy walked inside the visiting room and saw Ava in his favorite gray dress and Grace in a blue dress. He walked up to them and gave Grace a hug and kissed Ava. He missed her like hell and the kiss made him miss her even more.

"Did you get my letters?" Grace asked as he sat down with her still in his lap.

"Sure did." The letters were great, like a journal of everything she had done. "Is Pete ok?"

"Pete-rrrr." She corrected him. "He's fine, got a blue cast, looks quite cool." Peter fell of his bike and broke a bone in his hand. Grace had wrote about the hospital visit in detail and especially the x-ray.

"Bobby asked me to tell you that he misses you."

"I miss him and his muffins." Grace mumbled and put her arms around his neck. She whispered in his ear. "Mom sleeps in your t-shirt."

Happy looked up and noticed Ava's smile. They talked for as long as possible before the guards came. He got up and kissed Ava. "Miss me?"

"Yes. All the time." She said.

He kissed her again. He wasn't allowed to stay and watch them leave but looked back and noticed both of them waving at him. This fucking sucked.

-o0o-

**One month:**

Ava was reading when she heard a knock at the door. It was Chibs.

"Just wanted to make sure you're ok." He said as he walked inside.

"I'm fine. Want some coffee?"

"Sure." He smiled. "How are things with Grace? We miss her."

"I'm sorry. I haven't had time to come by. There's a lot at work and she's usually at Mary's." Ava was feeling extremely guilty about it. "I've been to Gemma a couple of times." That wasn't a great defense but at least it proved that she hadn't forgotten about them.

"Why don't you let Gemma take her a couple of days a week? Or let her stay at the garage? Chuckie or the prospects can keep an eye on her."

"Not sure how I'd get her there." She sat down at the table while they waited for the coffee. She was extremely tired and she had considered asking to go down to part time again. It was hard to make it work and she couldn't keep using Mary like this.

"We'll help you, Ava." Chibs said and took her hand. "Family you know. Happy had a go at Piney on the phone this morning. Said you looked tired and we needed to fucking help you."

That made Ava laugh. "Sorry."

"Don't be. We miss her. Come by tomorrow and we'll figure something out." Chibs smiled. "With Jax being shanked and all other shit we need to keep you close. Happy was pissed as hell."

"Any help would be appreciated."

"Even if Hap's inside we're not going to forget about you. We all need to pull together until they come back."

He stayed for a while and then he left. Life all of sudden seemed a little bit easier. And it would stop Grace from nagging about wanting to go visit the guys at the clubhouse.

-o0o-

**Six months:**

Another wash date. This time both her and Tara was at Gemma's and Grace was playing with Abel. Tara was getting big and it wasn't that long until the baby was coming.

"Does it ever fell like you just paused you life, waiting for him?" Tara said.

"Not during the days but sometimes at night." Ava admitted. "That's strange. I mean; during our relationship he's actually spent more time inside than with me."

"It was a really intense period." Gemma pointed out."Enough action for years if you were a normal couples."

"No shit." Ava laughed. "Crazy. This is making me feel bored sometimes."

"I know what you mean." Tara agreed.

"I'm tborad with this stupid house." Gemma said.

"Not that long left though." Ava said. She heard a beep from the washing machine and got up to get her laundry.

This had become a routine every week. Laundry, gossip and nagging. She liked it and Happy teased her about it, asked if they knitted as well. On her visits and on the phone calls they both avoided to get sentimental. It only made it worse and instead they were just as usual, teasing each other.

Grace still wrote him a couple of lines every day and sent them to him once a week. He loved those letters. All of them did and once a week she got a letter back from Happy and from one of the others. They took turns.

Bobby usually sent her recipes, Clay short lessons about bikes, Jax things he wanted her to teach Abel, Juice sites she should check online and Tig sent her reasons why she should like him better than Kozik. Ava was amazed at how kind they were to Grace. It wasn't long letters, sometimes just a line but it was so sweet and meant so much to Grace.

When she came back to the living room Grace was in Gemma's lap.

"Who sent you the letter this week?" Gemma asked.

She of course knew about the letters. She wasn't pleased with Clay's choice of subject but that was Grace's favorite. Apart from the letters from Happy. They were a secret though, no-one else could read them. Ava's favorite, besides her own letters from Happy, was Bobby's. That man knew every secret about baking.

"Tig. He wrote that Kozik was blond and that blond people are more stupid." Grace looked at Gemma. "I don't think Jax is stupid."

"Sometimes he is." Gemma said and started to brush Grace's hair. "But that's because he's a man and has nothing to do with the hair color."

"Are men more stupid?" Grace asked.

"Of course." Gemma confirmed. "Women are the stronger and smarter sex. Never forget that, honey. A man is only as good as the woman he has. Happy made a good choice and so did Jax."

Grace nodded seriously. "And Clay."

"Thank you, Sweetie." She kissed Grace's cheek.

Ava shook her head and Tara laughed. Gemma always gave Grace little pearls of wisdom and sometimes she doubted that they were that wise. This on the other hand, she liked.

Grace looked up when she noticed her. "Is that true?"

"Of course." Ava sat down next to her.

"But you're not stronger than Happy."

"Gemma doesn't mean muscles, she means a strong mind."

"Oh." Grace said and seemed to ponder a bit. "Like how you were strong and kept me safe from dad?"

"Just like that." Gemma agreed.

"I understand." Grace said. "Strong and smart." She nodded.

Ava realized with women like Gemma and Tara around her Grace would have the best role models a girl could wish for. Well, Gemma might take it a bit too far sometimes but her high regard of family and taking care of the people around her was something Grace could learn from.

-o0o-

**Six months and a week:**

"Next." Clay said. They were all sitting outside and Happy was reading Grace's letter.

Happy started on the next one. It was his favorite. "We did the laundry at Gemma's today. She told me that Jax was stupid sometimes but not because he was blond. It was because he was a man and men are always more stupid than women. Mom said it was true."

"You're kidding?" Tig said and took the letter from him. "That's not what I meant."

"What the hell did you write?" Bobby asked.

"That Kozik was blond and blond people are more stupid."

"Thanks." Jax said. "As far as Grace is concerned I'm stupid because I'm a man and because I'm blond."

Happy laughed and shook his head. "Want to hear the next?"

"Yeah. Keep reading." Bobby said.

"Peter showed me a dead mouse he found under his porch today. We're going to leave it there to see what happens with it. It looks icky. Don't tell mom!"

"Maybe you should. Tell Ava I mean." Juice said. "She might catch something."

Happy shrugged. He was going mention it to Ava and she'd know what to do.

"Next." He said and continued to read. "Chuckie gave me ice cream at the garage today. Then Piney gave me one and then Kozik. Mom said I had a sugar rush when I came home and Gemma told them they were idiots and that they had to ask each other if I'd already had an ice cream. She said it was proof that men are stupid idiots."

"God damn. She'd going to be a radical, lesbian feminist by the time we get out." Bobby said. "We need to make sure that Piney and the others try to balance out the rants from the crazy queen. Next."

Happy looked down. It was the last one. "Mickey teased me today because I didn't understand the maps we looked at in school. Peter told him to shut his mouth because Mickey wasn't exactly Einstein (I didn't know what that meant, mom said that he was a smart guy, even smarter than Peter) then he hit him in the face. I gave Peter my Snickers at lunch."

"I like Peter." Juice said with a laugh. "Crazy kid but I like him."

There had been quite a few notes about Peter, how he defended her and protected her so Happy was quite fond of him as well. He was the only friend she ever mentioned and when he asked her about it she shrugged and said that Peter was the one she liked best.

"It's my turn to write to her this week." Jax said and the others nodded.

Happy folded the letter and put it in his pocket. He was surprised that she still wrote everyday and sent them to him. It was quite a commitment for a six year old. Ava said it was good, that it was good practice for her and he had noticed that her spelling was getting better. Her and Ava's letters was the highlight of every week. He sighed. Nine more fucking months.

-o0o-

**Twelve months:**

Tara was feeding Thomas in the nursery when Ava came and Gemma was in the kitchen playing with Abel.

Grace ran up to him. "Hi Abel. Jax want me to learn you the Sesame Street song." She said and sat down next to him. Then she started to sing.

Gemma gave her a kiss before getting up from the floor.

"Coffee?" She asked Ava.

"You know it."

"Two more months." Gemma said when she sat down.

"I know. Strange how it feels like its been forever and really short at the same time."

"How's the dress going?"

"Ok." Ava and Tara was going to be brides maids at the wedding. Lyla was totally freaking out and Ava got tired just from thinking about that wedding.

Tara walked inside. "Two more months." She said with a huge smile while handing Ava Thomas. The countdown had started for real and that somehow made it almost worse. When it was getting closer but still felt far away.

"Imagine doing this by yourself." Gemma said. "I mean, I've had you and the rest of them. But being alone."

"God!" Tara said. "How awful. Don't know what I'd done without you."

Ava was quiet. She had been alone for so long and suddenly she had a huge family around her. Even if she couldn't imagine being without Happy, they hadn't been together for long and that hadn't mattered to anyone. Each and every one in the club had been there for her. They had even been upset with her when she avoided asking for help.

"What's wrong?" Gemma asked.

"Nothing. I just realized that eighteen months ago it was just me and Grace." Back then, she was even nervous about contacting Clark, now he came and visited quite often and they had been to him as well. There was a competition going on between Gemma and the New York charter about who could design the coolest pink t-shirt.

"You should send Jack some flowers." Gemma smiled.

"I've thanked him a million times." Grace's birthday party had been at his cafe this year as well.

Grace came up from the floor and Ava noticed that Abel was almost singing the Sesame Street-song. "I'll practice more with him later." Grace said. She was taking the tasks from Jax very seriously.

That night after Ava had finished the bedtime story they talked for a while, like they always did.

"Two more months." Grace said. "It's not that long."

"No, it isn't."

Grace was quiet for a while. "I miss him." She hardly ever said that. It was like she was scared it would make it worse if she said it out loud, which was almost what Ava felt as well.

"Me too."

"He says he misses us."

"In his letters?" This was the first time she had ever mentioned the letters from Happy.

"Yes." Grace gave her a hug. "That he misses you all the time and he's got our pictures on the wall. That he misses going on rides with me. And he even misses you eating in bed. But I couldn't tell you that."

"I won't tell him that you did." She kissed Grace's forehead. "I love you, honey."

"I love you too, mom." She yawned. "Stay with me until I fall asleep."

"Ok." She laid down more comfortable and adjusted the pillow.

-o0o-

They were standing outside the clubhouse along with loads of other people. Ava was next to Gemma and Tara.

Finally she heard the bikes and Grace started to jump at the spot. "That's them, that's them, that's them!"

When she saw Happy, Ava choked up. Grace didn't and ran up to him. He picked her up and hugged her hard before coming over to Ava and kissed her. "Missed you." He said. It was the first time he had said it. He hadn't said it once during the past fourteen months.

"I love you." She answered and he smiled.

Tig came over and took Grace. "You are the best pen pal I've ever had kiddo. Fucking loved your letters!" He said and gave her a kiss.

"You did?" Grace had a huge smile.

"We all did." Bobby kissed her as well. "What happened to that mouse?"

"It kind of disappeared. It's just the skeleton left, totally clean." Grace said.

"And the hamster in the classroom?" Juice asked. "Did you find it?"

"Didn't I tell you?" Grace said while Tig handed her over to Bobby. Ava couldn't hear the rest since the carried her away.

Happy hugged her again and kissed her. "Have you been a good girl and practiced?"

"Yes." Ava smiled. "Don't want to practice anymore now."

"No need." He smiled and kissed her again.

-o0o-

Fifteen minutes later Happy took Ava and sneaked her with him to the dorm.

"Fucking hell I've missed your pussy." He said while pulling down her panties.

She laughed. "Grace is going to miss us."

"Babe, sorry to tell you but this is going to be really fucking quick. She won't even notice that we're gone." He said and put her down on the dresser. "I'll make it up to you."

"You better." She mumbled while kissing him and then she moaned when he pushed inside her.

He had almost forgotten how fucking good she felt. Almost. This would be a lot quicker than he had thought and he found her clit, hoping that she'd be as quick as him. Judging from her pants she would.

When he felt her cramps he was lost and he would never admit to anyone how quick that had been. He stayed inside her for a few moments after and kissed her neck.

"What happened to the hamster?" He asked and she looked confused.

"Hamster?"

"In Grace's classroom."

She laughed and kissed him. "They found him underneath a pile of books."

"Oh." Happy said stroke her cheek. "Guessing he was dead."

"Very." Ava said. "This dresser has the perfect hight."

"Yup." He said and finally pulled up his jeans and gave her the panties from the floor. "I never did take you for a ride."

"No. Tomorrow?"

He nodded. "Taking Grace tomorrow as well. Missed that like hell."

"She missed it too." Ava said and then she laughed. "She did take some rides with Piney and Chibs but said they weren't as much fun as you. And they didn't ask her any questions."

"Good." He turned around and then felt her holding the neckline of his t-shirt.

"I never got to see this properly." She was quiet for a while. "It's wonderful." She finally said.

"Come on. We need to get out there." He said and held her around her waist as they walked outside.

-o0o-

The next morning Happy was sitting next to Grace at 'their' bench.

"Are you staying with us now?" She asked and looked at him. He knew that look, she was making sure he was telling the truth.

"Absolutely." He said and she seemed satisfied.

"Are you going to marry my mom?"

"Don't know." He hadn't even thought about that. "Think I should?"

She shrugged. "I don't know." She looked at him. "Is it important to be married?"

He lit a cigarette. "To some."

"As long as you stay I guess it doesn't matter." She jumped down and went to throw away the paper. "Did you really like my letters?"

"We all did." He smiled. "I read them out loud to everyone." She sat down in his lap and he kissed her head and threw away the cigarette. He didn't want to smoke when she was in his lap. "Best moment of every week, Sugar."

"Peter said it was important that I told you different things but that it was all true."

Happy had to fucking ask. "Is Peter your boyfriend?"

Grace laughed. "No! He's a friend."

Happy was going to keep an eye on that. Peter seemed like a smart kid and they were close. Before he knew she would be a teenager and that's when guys would be a problem. She was just seven and it was already obvious that she would be fucking stunning when she grew up. He would rather die that have some pimpled teenager knock her up.

He was nervous about this, having a kid and Tig hadn't helped him as far as that was concerned. Totally freaked him out about what it was like to have teenage daughters.

"Wanna go home to mom?" He asked and she nodded. Then she got up on her knees in his lap and gave him a kiss.

"Can we do this tomorrow?"

"We can do this whenever you like, Sugar."

"When can I sit behind you?"

"When your legs are long enough to reach the footrest."

She nodded. "Can you paint on me today as well?"

"Sure." He said when they got up and walked towards the bike. "What do you want?"

It took her a while but when he put her helmet on she smiled. "A fish."

"A fish?"

"Could you buy me a fish as well? A real, live one."

"Ok."

"Now?"

"Think we need a cage for that. It's hard to take a fish and a fishbowl on a bike." He got up on the bike. "You need to take care of it."

"I took really good care of the classroom hamster." She said with a proud voice.

"Then how did it end up underneath the books?"

"I kind of forgot to close the cage. But he did real well until then."

Happy laughed. "I love you, Sugar."

"What?." She said when he lifted her up.

"I love you."

"Oh. I love you too."

He decided to get a car to buy her that stupid fish. At least she couldn't forget to close the fucking cage door on a fish.

THE END

_A/N:_

_I have some of the most wonderful and loyal readers. Each and every review has made me so happy and your amazing feedback has meant the world to me._

_A huge thank you for every alert and fav as well. You rock!_

_A super special, huge, massive thank you to the following extremely loyal reviewers. I bloody love you! (In not particular order)_

_**wishuy, razzajazz, AngelsofHeavenandHell, AngieInWonderland, ILoveAnime89, Venetiangrl92, HermioneandMarcus, Krissy7, dark-lelu, otte1978, debbieja, go4itgirl, LuvDavidLaBrava, wrestlenascargirl**_

**The Grace story, called "Crooked Rain" (thought I'd continue on the Pavement albums) will be up really really soon. The first chapter is already finished for publish.**


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